A Shadow of Turning a Shadaria Love Story
by LusayLu182
Summary: Oh, snap! Eggman's got a killer of a plan, ready to wipe out Sonic and the whole gang, along with getting Shadow to help him once and for all! Will the Eggman empire fianlly succeed? Will the Sonic gang fail at this? And will Shadow fall for this? Or will the doctor's plot blow up in his face...again. (SonictheChristianHedgie's favorite story on the site. She wanted to say that.)
1. Chapter 1: Eggman's plan

_**A Shadow of Turning**_

_**Chapter One: Eggman's plot**_

_Flashback_

"_Catch me if you can!" Maria Robotnik laughed, running down a corrador in the ARK._

_Shadow the hedgehog chuckled quietly. He knew he could catch her in a matter of seconds, but he would let her have her fun._

_He waited a few seconds until Maria had turned a corner in the hall before he slowly made his way to her, allowing the blond haired girl get a head start. He rounded the corner, and blinked in surprise._

"_Maria? Are you Ok?"_

_Maria was leaning against the wall, a pained expression on her face as she rubbed her temples gently. Seeing Shadow, she quickly flashed him a smile and stood up straight._

"_I'm fine, Shadow. It's just that-"_

_Maria held her head in both hands and slowly layed down on her back, trying to stop the awful dizziness. Shadow was by her side in a flash, a worried look on his face. He rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, wishing he could do more for her._

_'If only the Professor would hurry up with the tests on me, then I could cure her,' Shadow thought with a sigh. It pained him to see his beloved Maria suffer. 'I was created to help her,' he realised. 'Yet, I can do nothing for her.'_

_Maria finaly opened her eyes and smiled a little, sitting up. She looked at Shadow and giggled a bit at his expression._

"_What?" Shadow practically demanded, feeling stressed because of her condition._

"_You're face," Maria laughed. "You're worried about me, arn't you?" _

_Shadow felt his face heat up. "Maybe a little," he admited quietly. "It's just that, I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Lifeform, but I can't even cure you from that stupid N.I.D.S. I have this terrible feeling that-" he stopped. He couldn't tell Maria that. She couldn't know the fears he and the Professor shared. That Maria would most likely die before they found a cure._

_Maria seemed to know what he ment anyway. "It's Ok, Shadow," she said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know I'm going to die soon. I can feel it." _

_Shadow's eyes filled with unwanted tears. "Maria you can't!" He protested. He was a mess, crying uncontrolably, while Maria made a vain attempt to sooth him. _

"_Shhhh, Shadow. Everything's fine."_

"_No!" Shadow sobbed. "It's not fine! I can't stand by and let this happen to you! I love you!" 'Did I really just tell her that?' He asked himself with disbelif, crying harder._

_Maria was quiet for a few seconds. Then, she slipped her hand under his chin and tipped it upward. "Shadow, look at me," she commanded quietly._

_Shadow lifted his tear-streaked face and looked into her large blue eyes, and his heart nearly skipped a beat. 'I really do love her,' he had to smile at him immaturity._

_Maria looked at Shadow with a soft smile on her lips. "Shadow?"_

"_Yes?"_

"_The truth is, I love you too," she admited. _

_Shadow's crimson eyes grew larger. 'Was she serrious?' _

_His question was answered as Maria kissed him. Shadow kissed her back. He'd protect Maria till the end. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. He'd find her cure, or die trying._

_(End flashback)_

_Hilltop Zone_

"Hello? Earth to Shadow!"

Shadow's eyes popped open as he jumped to his feet in battle mode, nearly punching Jack Frost in the nose.

"Woah!" Frost yelled, quickly dodgeing Shadow's allmost instinctive blow with amazing reflects. "Shadow it's me!"

Shadow immediately calmed down and crossed his arms in the typical Shadow the hedgehog manner. "Oh, hey Frost."

"Hey Frost," the white hedgehog mimicked in a high squeeky voice, purposly suceeding in making a terrible Shadow impression. "Is that all you got for me?" Frost continued anegerly. "You're lucky you missed me, or I wouldv'e been blown back three seasons. What are you trying to do? Kill me?"

"Not a bad idea," Shadow muttered irittably.

Frost glared at him with ice blue eyes. "Don't make me freeze you on the spot. It'd be a shame to turn the world-famous Ultimate Lifeform into a grumpy statue for the rest of ertenity."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "And what happens on the first day of summer?"

Frost paused. "You've got a point there," he admitted with a famous grin. "So?" He said slyly. "What were you thinking about that made you so jumpy?"

Shadow turned his head away to show the annoying nosy hdgehog that he wasn't interested in sharing, and also to hide the blush he could feel on his face.

But Frost was too good at guessing. "Let me guess," he said with a dramatic pause. "It's about Maria, isn't it?"

Shadow didn't answer.

"Ha!" Frost laughed triumphantly. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"

Shadow tried his best to ignore Frost's victory dance, but it was impossible to not stare at the insane hedgehog with a dumbfounded expression. "Frost? What the flip are you doing?"

"VICTORY!" Frost shouted, pumping the air with his fist. "THE NORTH WIND WINS AGAIN! YEAH! Hey Shadow, check this out! ALL HAIL FROST! GUESSERS RISE AGAIN! OBLITERATING EVERY SECERT IN YOUR PATH!"

Shadow stared a Frost in shock, while the master of winter practicaly bounced off the hilltops, singing his crazy victory song in the ture of Shadow's theme song, All Hail Shadow.

"NOTHING CAN STOP YOUR KNOWLEDGE! NO SECERT IS TOO LARGE! WITH ONE GUESS I'M RIGHT! YOU WIN! YEAH!"

Shadow groaned, his ears were about to start spriting blood, due to Frost's off-tune singing. "Shut up Frost!" Shadow yelled impatiently. "Heck, I should've killed you when I had the chance!"

Frost finally stopped and smiled. "Don'tcha love it when I'm right?" He asked happily.

Shadow glared at him angerly. "You're so lucky I don't have any Chaos Emeralds on me right now. Otherwise, you'd be so dead."

Frost's cooky grin dissapeared. The last thing he wanted was for the reged hedgehog to find one of those Emeralds and beat the snot out of him with it.

"Shadow," he laughed nervously. "Come on! Don't be mad! Every guy has feelings for someone! Even dark creepy hedgehogs who are obsessed with human girls who have been dead for about fifty years!" Frost gulped as Shadow began advancing toward him menicingly, his right eye twitching. "T-t-there's nothing wrong with that!" Frost stammered. "It's totally normal!"

Shadow grabbed Frost, turned him around, and kicked his poor rear-end hard.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Frost screamed, flying out of Hilltop Zone.

Shadow rolled his eyes. "Idiot."

_Eggman's Base_

Dr. Eggman laughed insanly as he worked over his newest invention. Three robots; Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun, looked at eachother and shrugged.

"What is the doctor planning now?" Decoe asked.

"Beats me," Bocoe shrugged. "But he's been like this ever since he started on that thing."

Bokkun snifed. "Dr. Eggman is planning something big and he won't tell us what!" He pretty much yelled out the obveous. "I wanna know what he's up to!" The small robot began to cry.

Eggman jerked his head up, bonking it in part of his machine and scowled. "If I tell you, will you please stop that annoying racket? I'm trying to work here!"

Bokkun quickly exchanged the tears for a big cheesy smile. "Of course, Dr. Eggman!

The doctor sighed. "Well," he started. "It all started a couple weeks ago while I was cleaning out my computer files. I refound my grandfather's old diary and started reading."

"Uh-huh..." All three robots said eagerly.

Eggman continued. "I realised how many brilliant ideas Grandpa had made. He really was a genius! But there was just one problem, all the plans required having one person on my team, Shadow.

I desided to visit the Space Colony ARK to see if there was anything I could find up there to get that blasted hedgehog on my side. Fortunatly, I found this," Eggman removed a glowing blue stone, held by a tiny silver chain."

"Oooooh," the robots said in awe.

"What is it?" Bokkun asked.

Eggman grinned. "Apperently, it was a necklace that belonged to my cousin, Maria. According to my reserch, it had been a birthday gift from Shadow. But this stone is more that just the pretty rock these two believed it was. It's called the 'Soul Catcher' if you believe in such nonsence."

The robots looked at eachother, not really understanding what their master was talking about.

The doctor picked up on their blank faces and sighed. "When Maria died," he explained. "Her soul was captured by the Soul Catcher. Now with the machine I'm creating, I can reawaken her, see? A perfect trap for Shadow."

"Ohhhhhhhh," the robots breathed.

"But," Eggman said with an evil laugh. "I had a feeling this would be only a temperary target. Shadow is tricky. So why waste my time on him, when I could make Maria just as powerful."

Once again, the robots were uterly confused.

"Bokkun?" Eggman asked.

The little robot snapped at attention. "Yes, Dr. Eggman?"

"I want you to get me a blood sample from Shadow," Eggman stroaked his mustache as he handed Bokkun a needle.

Bokkun took it and saluted, a little nervous about having such a dangerous assignment. But he was willing to prove that he was the best-and only-robot, messanger/errand boy the doctor had.

"Aye-eye sir!" Bokkun said bravely, flying out of the base.

Eggman smiled. "Better get ready Sonic," he chuckled. "I'll soon have the game in my hands. OHHHH HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"

**Lusay: **Well, the end of chapter one! What did you all think?

**Shadow: **I say it sucked.

**Frost:** And I don't appreciate getting kicked in the butt!

**Shadow: **Well, actually, now that I think about it, I _did_ get to make Frost suffer. And that was a pretty sweet opening flaskback, Lusay.

**Lusay:** Did I just get complemented by Shadow?

**Frost:** Yeah. So?

**Lusay: **YESSSSSSS! I FINALLY DID SOMETHING RIGHT!

**Shadow: **Ummmmm...Okkkkkkkkk.

**Frost: **And you think _I'm _crazy.

**Shadow: **You are. Soooo, Lusay, when does Maria come in the story?

**Frost: **You just had to ask.

**Shadow: **Yep.

**Lusay: **Either in the next chapter, or the one after that.

**Shadow:** YESSSSSSSSS! CAN'T WAIT!

**Lusay: **Ok, We've all had our crazy moment. Well, see ya later everyone! I'll get the next chapter up, A.S.A.P.

**Frost:** Remember to review.

**Shadow: **And LusayLu182 doesn't own us, SEGA and Sonic Team do. Besides Frost. She owns him. And that's why he sucks.

**Frost: **HEY!

**Lusay: **Shadow! If you don't stop it, I'll kill Maria in one of these chapters!

**Shadow:** NOOOOOOOOO! I WAS JOKING!

**Lusay: **Much better. Anyway, see you all, have a good day! Peace out!


	2. Chapter 2: Questions

**Lusay: **Here's chapter two! Hope you all enjoy! I decided to switch to a first person narrative, and alternate between Shadow's P.O.V. And Maria's. This one will start with the lady, mainly because Shadow wouldn't stop bugging me.

**Shadow: **HURRY IT UP! I WANNA SEE MARIA!

**Lusay: **(Mumbling) What a bossy little-

**Shadow: **(Cocks Shadow rifle) Shut up and start writing slave!

**Lusay: **(Gulps) Y-y-yes Master Shadow. (grumbling) Why do I even like this guy? o_O

**Shadow: **Here's the chapter. You'd better like it or else I'll kill you in your sleep!

**Lusay: **Stop trying to scare them. We live in a FREE country you know. They don't HAVE to like your stupid love story.

**Shadow:** Oh, yeah? Is that so?

**Lusay: **OKKKKK! I'M WRITING!

**Shadow: **Good.

_**Chapter Two: Questions**_

_Maria's P.O.V._

I heard a loud noise, it sounded like a machine. Funny thing was, I was inside it. I looked around, trying to register the thoughts in my head.

My name is Maria Robotnik, that much I knew. As for where I was, and how I got there, I had no idea. My mind was blank. I couldn't seem to remember anything besides my name, which got me wondering what had happened to me.

Suddenly, the slide door of the machine opened. I quickly jumped out, not liking that cramped, tight space. I looked around the room and saw an oversized, middle-aged man, grinning like he had just gotten his braces removed. His bald head and long furry-looking mustache seemed allmost...fimiliar.

There were also three robots, they looked at me like I was some alien from Mars. But, hey. Mars is in space, right? Space. I kinda think I've been there before.

The man finally extended a hand in welcome. I shook it.

"Welcome, Maria," he said warmly.

I took a quick step backward. "Huh? How do you know my name?" I sputtered.

The man shook his head with a snort. "How do I know your name?" He repeated. "I'll give you two reasons.

One, I'm your cousin, Ivo Robotnik.

And two, I just revived you! You've been dead for fifty years. And if it wasn't for me, you'd be dead for a lot longer."

"Wait, _what?_" I asked with shock. This was a lot to think about.

Ivo explained, "you see, back when you lived on the ARK with our grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik and Project: Shadow, there had been an accident. You died. But, due to the stone you're wearing around your neck, and a little DNA help from Shadow, I was able to reawaken you. Now you can help me rule- I mean _save-_ the world."

I stared at Ivo with a blank expression on my face. What in the world was that man talking about?

What was an Ark?

Who on Earth is Gerald Robotnik and Project: Shady? Oh, wait. He said Shadow.

Woops.

And an accident?

I had died?

Ivo grinned. "I take it that you don't have any idea of what I'm talking about."

I shook my head quickly.

Ivo just brushed it aside. "No matter. It'll come back sooner than later.

Anyway, which one of you dumbots want to escort Maria to her room in sector D13? tomorrow will be busy, and I want her rested up."

He was answered by three robots shouting out 'me! Me!'

Ivo sighed tiredly. "Bokkun," he called.

The smallest robot grinned and flew in a loop.

"YES!" He shouted excitedly.

The other two robots sighed and complained, "why does _he_ always get the good job?"

I didn't hear Ivo's response, due to the robot, Bokkun, dragging my out of the lab.

"The doctor is so awesome!" Bokkun exclaimed.

"He has an IQ of 300! He's a genius! That's how he could do something as cool as reincarnating someone! Cool, huh?"

I nodded, although I didn't know what he ment by reincarnation. I'm the same Maria Robotnik I've always been, right?

Bokkun rambled on and on about how smart Ivo was, and how I could be a great help to him.

I finally tuned the robot out, tired of not understanding. This was all very confusing, and trying to think about it made my head ache. Maybe, the answers would come in time. I really hoped so.

Bokkun led me to my new room and opened the door with a push of a button. The room was simple, but nice. The walls were a pretty soft blue, the carpet was a spotless white. The bedspread matched the walls perfectly. There was also a dresser, a desk with a really sweet computer, a tall bookcase filled with tons of books, a big walk-in-closet, and an adjoining bathroom.

I was impressed. Whoever did the decorating in here must know me a lot. Which is just a little creepy.

"Well, goodnight Maria!" Bokkun said loudly from the door. "Breakfast is at 7:30!"

I nodded my goodnight, and the robot left, shutting the door behind him.

I inspected the room again and found there was just one problem.

No windows.

I gulped, feeling a little trapped by the new discovery. I didn't want to leave Ivo or anything. But if I had to get out fast, how could I do it?

I sighed. "Just another thing I don't know," I said quietly.

I sadly walked to the dresser to see if there was any night-clothes in one of the drawers. I didn't have a chance to look, because I noticed the mirror first.

I gasped and took several fast steps backward. "I'm a...hedgehog?!"

This was my biggest surprise by far.

Whenever anyone had ever said, Maria, I always pictured myself, a tallish, blond-haired, blue-eyed girl of eleven.

But now, I was a short, blond quilled, blue-eyed hedgehog, who looked about sixteen. I had cat-like ears that sat on the top of my, now rather large head. My eyes were now oval-shaped and they were in one sclera(A.N. The white part of your eye). And besides having a muzzle, my hands and feet were considerably larger and my hair, or now called quills, were down to my waist.

I was in fact, a hedgehog.

Now I was worried. What happened to me?

It was something I had to know, now!

I ran out of my room and down the millions of corridors until I had reached the lab, where thankfully, Ivo was still working.

The man turned and stared at me as I burst through the door. "Maria, child, what is it? You're supposed to be in bed!"

I was almost to speechless to ask, "Wh-why...why am I...a hedgehog?!"

Ivo chuckled. "I told you I used some of Shadow's DNA. That's why."

"Who's Shadow again?" I asked.

Ivo rolled his eyes. "Just some belly aching hedgehog. Now go to sleep. tomorrow, we begin your training."

"Training?" I repeated. "For what?"

"You'll see," Ivo said mysteriously.

With a sigh, I returned to my room and flopped on the bed, now too tired to change. In a few minutes, I was asleep.

_Maria's Dream_

_'Where am I?' I thought, looking around. Some dark forest? I was kinda scared, alone. _

"_I have to get out of here," I said nervously, starting to walk in some random direction._

"_Foolish girl, there is no way out," a dark voice said._

_I turned around quickly, trying to locate the voice. About ten feet away from me was a red and black hedgehog, grinning an evil grin that nearly froze my heart in my chest._

"_You're mine!" The hedgehog laughed._

_I screamed and fled, running as fast as I could._

_Whoever that guy was, he was chasing me._

_And he was gaining. _

_I kept running, until I saw a light. It was the way out! If only I could reach it._

_Then I tripped._

_I screamed again as the hedgehog stopped next to me._

_(End Dream)_

"NO!" I screamed, leaching out of bed. My heart hammered in my chest, my breathing was heavy, and there was a cold sweat on my forehead.

What had that been about?

I didn't know, but had it been a sign of some sort?

**Lusay: **Finally! The end of chapter two! I'm sure Shadow would have something to say right now, if he wasn't crying his eyeballs out. Well, I'll give the message myself; don't hire slave labor! Hehehehe!

**Maria: **For the millionth time, who is Shadow?

**Lusay: **Ummm...(finding classic Shadow comment) you'll find out.

**Maria:** (Sighs) Fine!

**Lusay: **Well, hoped you all enjoyed! Please remember to review and I'll update soon.

**Maria: **Yeah, and the original me and the others are copyright of Sega.

**Lusay: **Frost and the storyline are copyright of ME!

**Maria: **Yeah.

**Lusay:** See you all later! Peace out!


	3. Chapter 3: A Strange Dream

**Lusay: **HI! I'm back with chapter three! Now we will take a peek inside the mind of Shadow.

**Shadow:** That's the last place you want to be. I still can't believe you.

**Lusay:** Well, that's what you get for hiring slave labor. Anyway, here's the chapter! Hope you like it!

_**Chapter three: A Strange Dream**_

_Shadow's P.O.V._

_Shadow's Dream_

_I was wandering around in the middle of nowhere, trying to figure out what was going on. All I knew was that this dream was already weird. Really weird._

_I heard someone call my name. I turned around to see Maria sitting on the grass beside me._

"_Hi Shadow!" She giggled._

"_Maria?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"_

_Maria made a face. "Well," she said with a tip of her chin. "I came here to see you silly! I thought you'd be happy to see me."_

"_I am," I told her. "But this is just a dream. How do I get you out of here?"_

_Maria sighed. "You can't."_

_I sighed too. "Go figure."_

_Maria smiled again. "But I've got good news for you!"_

"_Like what?" I asked. "More fangirls? I can't stand them!"_

"_No!" Maria exclaimed with a laugh. "Not that!"_

"_Frost telling the world about how much I loved you?" I already knew that one was true._

"_No!" Maria shook her head._

"_Well, what then?" I asked._

_Maria smiled. "I'm coming back!"_

"_WHAT?!" I shouted._

_Maria started laughing again._

_I ran up to her. "Are you serious?" I asked. "This isn't some bad joke right?"_

"_Of course I'm serious!" She laughed._

_I grabbed her and spun her around in circles. "I can't believe this!" I shouted, starting to tear up. "I'll finally get to see you again!"_

_Maria hugged me. "Cool, huh?"_

"_Cool?!" I repeated. "This is flipping awesome!"_

_Maria laughed as I set her back down._

"_So," I asked casually. "When are you coming?"_

"_Soon," she said mysteriously. "But Shadow, there will be some side-affects."_

_I looked at her curiously. "As in?"_

_Maria sighed. "As in, I'll look a little different. And also, I won't remember you."_

"_What?" I asked, shocked. "Why not?"_

_Maria shrugged. "That's how it worked out, I guess."_

_I sighed. "Yeah."_

"_But don't feel too bad. I'll get it back. You did."_

"_Yeah," I said. "After being lied to multiple times and that whole process of figuring out what's right and what's wrong." I sighed. "I don't want you to have to go through all that."_

"_Hey," Maria smiled. "Don't worry, ok? It gets you nowhere."_

"_True," I said miserably._

_Maria kissed me gently on the forehead._

"_Just remember I love you," she whispered._

"_I'd tell you to do the same, if it were possible."_

_(End Dream)_

My sleep was interrupted my the ringing of my cell phone. I jerked out of bed, grabbed the phone, and threw it at the wall, mainly out of pure frustration.

I wasn't surprised to see the phone had smashed a hole in the wall and was now lodged inside. Guess I'd have to get that fixed later.

Unfortunately, the impact from my throw answered the phone anyway.

"Shadow? What was that huge crash? You better answer my right now!" Rouge's voice yelled from the wall.

Groaning, I walked over and picked it up.

"What do you want Rouge?" I snapped.

"What do I want? Shadow! What is your problem?" She sputtered.

"I just woke up!" I shouted at her.

"Well, sorry Sleeping Beauty!" Rouge spat. "I was just calling to say 'happy anniversary!'"

_Oh._

I glanced at the calender on the wall and saw today's date.

Team Dark's anniversary.

"Oh, sorry Rouge," I apologized. "I just...nevermind."

Rouge sighed. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later," I said, inspecting the hole in the wall. "Do you know anyone who fixes walls?"

"What?" Rouge asked.

"Nevermind," I said again. "I'm still picking you and Omega up for dinner at six, right?"

"Uh-huh. And you better bring your convertible."

"Duh!" I said, rolling my eyes. "I don't think you'd wanna squeeze on my motorcycle."

"If it were just the two if us, maybe," she flirted. "But absolutely not with Omega, and I'm not riding a motorcycle in a dress. Which reminds me, you'd better be dressed for the occasion. And I'm talking a tux! We'll be eating at the fanciest places in town!"

"I don't have a tux!" I complained.  
"Then buy one!" Rouge roared. "And bring someone who has some fashion sence with you, _please._"

"Like who?" I asked.

"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "Amy or Blaze, I guess."

_She's out of her mind._

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, hoping she was.

Amy Rose was Sonic's annoying, over-obsessive, girlfriend.

Blaze was ok, but still. Why would I go shopping for a tux with her?

"Which one do you want me to call?" Rouge asked irritated.

_She's not joking._

"Call Blaze," I said through gritted teeth.

"Ok!" She said cheerfully. "I'll call you back in a sec."

I hung up and jumped into the shower, hoping I'd miss her call.

Unfortunatly, Rouge didn't call back until after I had finished, dried off, and fixed my quills.

"Blaze said ok, and wants you to pick her up at ten," Rouge informed me.

I glanced at the clock. 9:15.

"Where does she live?" I shouted. I hadn't even eaten yet.

"Over past Speed Highway, the little town right off of Exit fifty-one."

"Rouge!" I shouted.

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"I have to go, _now!_" I yelled, hanging up.

I raced out the door, and jumped on the motorcycle.

A few seconds later, I was speeding down the Main Street of Westropolis.

_Why._

As I drove down Speed Highway, I again wondered about the strange dream I had.

_Maria coming back?_

_Pffft. Yeah right._

_That's not even possible._

Still, it bothered me so much that I had to ask Blaze about it after we had bought the tux I'd wear only this once.

"Do you think it's possible for people to come back from the dead?" I asked her.

Blaze started choking on her water.

I was completely clueless of what to do, so I did nothing.

Finally, she caught her breath and stared at me.

"_What?_"

I told her about this morning's dream and how it had been bugging me all day.

Blaze shook her head.

"I don't think that could work Shadow," she finally told me. "Not unless someone can do it with the power of science."

I nodded mutely. She was right. And I think she added the science part just to make me feel better.

Go figure.

_Maria's P.O.V._

_So, this is training. _

I looked around me at the large arena I was in.

"Now, remember," Ivo said solemnly. "If you do well in your training, I'll give you a opertunity to prove yourself useful. If you do that, well then," he chuckled.

"We'll see about letting you go out on your own. If, of course, you promise to help me."

"Uh, sure," I shrugged. _I'd get to go out? Sweet!_

"Now, these are your trainers," Ivo said.

A blue mechanical hedgehog came out of a room.

"This is Metal Sonic," Ivo introduced. "He'll train you in physical fitness. That includes running, jumping, your agility, and things like spin dashing and triangle jumps."

I nodded to Metal Sonic, who nodded back.

"Next we have Metal Knuckles," Ivo continued.

A silver robotic echidna also came in and stood next to Metal Sonic.

"He'll train you in physical abilities, such as your strength, as well as hand-to-hand combat skills."

I gave a small wave to my next trainer.

"And last but not least," Ivo said. "The Shadow Andriods. They'll teach you in-"

I screamed as three red and black hedgehogs walked in.

"Get away from me!" I shrieked.

The hedgehogs just looked at each other and shrugged, while I screamed my head off.

"Maria?" Ivo asked. "What is your problem?"

"I-I-I've seen one of them before," I panted. "In my dream last night. He was chasing me."

I trembled at the memory.

"Dear girl," Ivo chuckled. "These would never hurt you. I've created them myself. The real one however, you need to look out for him."

"How do I know whether they're your Andriods or not?" I asked.

"They stay in groups of three," Ivo exclaimed. "And they won't try to attack you."

I took a deep breath. "Promise?"

Ivo nodded. "Promise."

**Lusay: **That's all! Hope you enjoy! I'll have more up soon. Remember, the original Maria and others are copyright of Sega. Frost and the storyline are copyright of me. Review! Peace out!


	4. Chapter 4: A Nightmere Awakes

**Lusay: **Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! This is Shadow and Maria's first encounter, told in Maria's perspective.

_Chapter four: A Nightmere Awakes_

_Maria's P.O.V._

"Chaos...Spear!" I shouted.

The Shadow Andriods went flying in every direction as the spears of Chaos energy hit them.

"Oooops, sorry!" I laughed, seeing them blow up.

Those were the sixth pair this week.

My training was going good. I had learned a lot of things over the past three weeks. Such as the fact that a could now run close to the speed of sound, perform multiple spin attacks, that I had mild superhuman strength, and of course, I could channel Chaos Energy.

The only down side was, if I worked too hard, I passed out.

Ivo told me that it was because I ran out if energy too fast. He was trying to create some kind of inhibitor ring thingy, but he said that he'd need Shadow's rings in order to copy them and blah, blah, blah.

Oh well.

After I showered and dressed in my favorite dark blue and white dress, I met up with Ivo at the deck.

"Your training has been going good," Ivo commented.

I nodded. "The first time I held a Chaos Emerald, I was a little nervous," I admitted. "But now, I channel the energy flawlessly."

"That you do," Ivo agreed. "Which is why I've decided to give you this assignment."

I blinked.

_An assignment? That ment I was going out!_

"There's a Chaos Emerald in the Mystic Ruins," Ivo continued. "I need you to get it for me."

"Ok, sure!" I agreed quickly. "Um...where are the Mystic Ruins?"

Ivo chuckled and tossed me an Emerald Tracker.

"Use this. It will tell you. Also, it will show you if there are any other Emeralds around. And be careful. The last thing we need is for it to get stolen, or you to get hurt."

"No problem!" I winked. "I'll get that Emerald faster than you could say," I grabbed my yellow Chaos Emerald. "Chaos...Control!"

In the blink of an eye, I arrived in the Ruins, excitement running through me. I was outside! For the first time in...forever!

I checked the Emerald Tracker. Sure enough, an Emerald was nearby.

My Chaos Emerald was going nuts too.

I pocketed the flashing gem and walked toward the signal I was receiving, enjoying the fresh air, sunlight, trees, birds, and plants.

It was heavenly.

Suddenly, I noticed something.

I had _two _Emerald readings.

And one was moving toward the first.

My heart hammered loudly.

It could mean only one thing.

_Someone _had an Emerald. And they were after mine.

I took a few deep breaths.

"No worries," I whispered. "All I have to do is get there first."

I started to run like crazy toward the signal.

_Please get there first! Please get there first!_

I ran until the Tracker buzzed, indicating I had reached the Chaos Emerald.

I looked around.

No one was here.

I located the Emerald, which was hidden in a clay pot, and was about to get the heck out of there, when I heard a voice.

"What are you doing here?"

I froze.

That voice.

I turned around slowly, and realised my deepest fears were confirmed.

It was the red and black hedgehog from my dream.

I gulped.

_Oh, gosh! _

My legs wobbled and I started feeling light-headed.

_No, no, no!_

I took three deep breaths before figuring out, _Hey! I've got two Chaos Emeralds! And this guy has, um, one. Besides, I've got Chaos abilities. I can take him!_

I finally got courage enough to squeak out, "S-s-stay away."

The guy raised an eyebrow.

Then he noticed the red Chaos Emerald I held.

"I'm gonna have to take that Emerald off your hands," he told me.

_Ha! In your dreams, Blackie!_

"Uh," I stammered. "You know, I'm gonna have to say no. I found it first."

I was getting good at this.

The hedgehog glared at my with dark red eyes.

"I told you once," he said slowly. "Now I'm warning you again. Give me the Emerald!"

I snorted. "Not without a fight!" I said.

This dude was really starting to tick me off.

He smirked. "Give me your best shot."

I wasn't gonna do _that._

But I did shout out, "Chaos...Spear!"

The hedgehog dodged it with a couple quick backflips.

"How can you do that?" He asked.

I smiled. "Like this," I said calmly. "Chaos...Spear!"

This time, he wasn't expecting it and got hit.

He flipped in the air and landed on his feet.

I took the opening a smashed him in the face, sending him flying.

Running up to him, I grabbed him by the thought and held him in a choke-hold.

"Now you'd better leave me alone!" I snapped, tightening my grip.

"Oh, yeah?" He choked. "_Make _me!"

Again I tightened my grip.

"You'd better not underestimate me," I told him. "I'm stronger than I look."

The guy just smirked, and with a sudden movement, whipped me around and slammed me against a nearby tree, gripping my arms.

"So I'm I," he said, the terrifying smirk still on his face. "Now, you'll pay for challenging me with your weakness."

He grabbed his own green Chaos Emerald.

_Oh, gosh, I'm scared._

My heart was beating so loud, I was sure he could hear it.

_Oh, why, oh, why did I come here?_

I gulped, trying to think of what he was planning to doing to me.

I closed my eyes, hardly daring to breathe.

I waited.

Nothing happened.

**Lusay: **Cliffhanger! I feel so evil for this brief moment! Hahahaha! Yeah, anyway see you later. And thanks for the support. Peace out!


	5. Chapter 5: The Necklace

**Lusay: **Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! This is the continuation of the encounter, in Shadow's P.O.V. And yes, I'm backtracking a bit so you know what's going on the him.

_Chapter five: The Necklace_

_Shadow's P.O.V._

"You want me to what?" I asked.

My boss, the G.U.N. Commander, glared at me.

"You heard me," he said shortly. "We need the Chaos Emerald."

I nodded. "Yeah, but, I'm not the Treasure Hunter! Can't Rouge to this?"

I don't even know why I had such a problem with this. I had to admit, I'd been acting strange lately. Even for me. Ever since that dream.

The Commander kept glaring at me. "She's on a different solo mission," he said. "Besides, you're one of the few who can get into the Mystic Ruins without being turned into some kind of crazy radiation monster. You will except the mission."

I smirked. He _did _have a point.

"You're dismissed," the Commander said finally.

I turned and left the office, going outside to park my bike.

"Hey, Shadow old buddy! Long time no see!"

I glared at Sonic, wishing looks could kill.

"First of all," I growled. "I'm _not _your buddy."

Sonic shrugged. "Yeah, yeah. That's what _you _say."

"Secondly," I continued. "Why are you here? Who let you in?"

"Ahhhh, you know," Sonic shrugged again. "G.U.N. And I go back a long way. I _am _their number one alley."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

Sonic grinned. "Oh, yeah. By the way, I was talking to Frost the other day..."

I groaned.

_Crap._

"And I was just wondering, if you and Maria were actually dat-" Sonic froze as I pointed the Shadow rifle at his head.

"Shut up!" I commanded. "And leave my alone!"

Sonic gulped and laughed nervously.

"Well, Shadow. It was nice seeing you, but I've gotta go! Places to go, you know!" He left quickly, much to my relief.

I shook my head and took out my Chaos Emerald. "Chaos...Control!"

A few seconds later, I was at the Mystic Ruins. I still don't know exactly what happened, but G.U.N. Was doing some kind of chemical adiation experiments out here. They had failed, and now the whole area was covered in this gas. I, of course, was immune to it, and for some reason, so was Big the Cat. That didn't make sence to me, since even Faker couldn't go near the place, but whatever.

_Ok, now where is that Emerald?_

I didn't know if was the gases interfering with my senses, or the Chaos Emerald, but I followed the energy pull I was feeling.

That's when I noticed her.

A yellowish colored hedgehog, with long quills and a blue dress had her back turned to me.

My immediate thought was, _she'd better get out of here!_

I didn't know her, but I did know that this place wasn't safe.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

The girl stiffened and turned around, revealing her face.

_What the-?!_

She looked almost exactly like Maria, besides the fact that she was a hedgehog. Those eyes. So familiar. I was starting to wonder if my dream came true after all.

"S-s-stay away," she warned timidly.

I raised an eyebrow. Was she _afraid _of me? All I had wanted was her to get to safety.

Then I noticed she had a red Chaos Emerald. The one I needed.

I didn't know whether or not this girl was in fact Maria, but whoever she was, she shouldn't have that Emerald. They were not toys.

"I'm gonna have to take that Emerald off your hands," I told her.

The girl looked nervous, but refused.

"Um. I'm gonna have to say no. I found it first."

I sighed. I didn't want to have to scare her into giving it to me, but I was running out of options. And I wasn't gonna tell her _why_ I needed it.

"Look," I said slowly. "I told you one, now I'm warning you again, give me the Emerald, or I'll have to take it myself."

"Not without a fight," she said, starting to sound more ticked off than scared.

I couldn't help but smirk. She was challenging _me? _She was either very brave, or very stupid.

"Give me your best shot," I challenged.

"Chaos...Spear!" She yelled, flinging the spears of Chaos energy at me.

I dodged them with a few backflips.

_Ok, I was not expecting that._

"How did you do that?" I asked with amazement. For as long as I could remember, I had been the only one able to channel Chaos energy in that way. It was one of the reasons why I was called the Ultimate Lifeform.

The girl smiled. "Like this. Chaos...Spear!"

Ok, I admit, she hit me that time.

She took the opening and punched me hard in the face, then grabbed me and held me at a choke hold.

Whoever she was, she had some skills! I guess she knew that the Chaos Emerald wasn't for playing with.

"Leave me alone already!" She yelled, tightening her grip.

"Make me!" I said simply.

The girl tightened her grip on my neck, and I'll admit she was strong, and it was starting to hurt. Just a tiny bit.

"Don't underestimate me!" She warned. "I'm stronger than I look."

I smirked and with one lightning fast move, whipped her around, pushing her against a tree.

"So am I," I said smugly. "Now you'll pay for challenging me. You shouldv'e given me the Emerald while you had the chance."

I pulled out my own green Emerald.

The girl looked purely terrified. She gulped and closed her eyes.

I was about to dish it to her good, when I noticed something.

The necklace around her neck. It was the same one I had given Maria. The same one.

_Maria's P.O.V._

_Ok. Why isn't he killing me? _

I opened my eyes curiously, only to see the hedgehog staring back at me with those blood-red eyes of his. He looked different from the threatening guy I had seen only five seconds ago.

Something about him had changed.

Finally, in the smallest voice, he muttered,

"Maria."

_Woah. Some guy I had never seen before, apart from that nightmare somehow knows my name? There's nothing wrong with that._

"How do you know me name?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.

The hedgehog looked at me again.

"You're Maria Robotnik?" He asked in a slight disbelief.

I nodded. "How do you know me?" I asked again.

The guy chuckled slightly. "Easy. I'm Shadow the Hedgehog. Your best friend."

_Wait what?_

_So this was Shadow?_

"You're Shadow?" I asked.

He nodded and let go of me, allowing me to breathe normally.

"It's been a long time, Maria," he said softly, nothing like the voice he had used on me two minuets ago.

"It has, hasn't it?" I asked.

_Oh, please! I'm not buying this! He's just trying to play with me. He thinks I'm just a toy, doesn't he?_

Yeah, I wasn't afraid of him anymore. But I _was _mad.

I dusted myself off before glaring daggers at him and shouting, "Chaos...Blast!"

A huge explosion surrounded me, blowing back various things. Like the tree, a couple other plants and some ruins, and of course, this Shadow guy.

With him out of the way, I picked up the Chaos Emerald he had dropped and left.

I was just out of the ruins when everything went black.

I woke up in a room somewhere. There was a cool cloth on my head, which felt really good. But I had to figure out where I was.

I sat up, and quickly jumped out of bed.

"Oh dear!" A high-pitched voice called out.

"You'd better be careful, Miss."

I looked over to see a small rabbit girl with a small, blue, thingy sitting on a chair in the corner.

"I'm fine," I said quickly. "I only needed to regain my energy."

"Well," the rabbit said. "You gave us all quite a scare. Even Mr. Shadow, and I've never seen him act like that."

"Shadow was here?" I asked.

She nodded. "He was the one who brought you here to my house. But he was gone soon after."

I couldn't help but have my heart touched.

_That was...sweet of him._

But then I noticed something.

I only had one Chaos Emerald left. The yellow one.

"Oh, man!" I exclaimed frustrated.

"Did what I said make you angry, Miss?" The rabbit asked quickly.

I shook my head. "No. It's just that he stole from me. I'm gonna have to get my stuff back."

"Not right now, you won't."

I turned to see an older rabbit who must have been the younger one's mother.

"You'll stay at this house and get rested up."

I sighed. I might as well.

"You can stay here over-night!" The young rabbit said happily. "My other friends are coming over later!"

I smiled warmly. "That's really nice of you, um..."

"I'm Cream," she announced. "This is my mama, and my very special Chou friend, Cheese."

"Chow! Chow!" Cheese introduced.

"And you can call me Ms. Vanilla dear," Cream's mother said kindly.

"It's nice to meet you all," I said seriously. "My name's Maria."

I purposely left out my last name. If they knew Shadow, who knew what they knew about me.

"Pretty name," Ms. Vanillia commented.

"Yeah!" Cream agreed.

"Thanks," I said, feeling flushed.

"You're welcome!" Cream giggled. "And just wait, until the girls get here! They'll love you!"

I smiled. I really liked Cream and her mother. I might even like her friends too.

But Shadow? The next time I see him, he's gonna get it so bad, he might even wish he'd killed me before.

But it'd be too late.


	6. Chapter 6: Give him a Chance!

**Lusay: **Here's the next chapter, finally. Hehheh. It's kinda long, but I think it's one of my favorite chapters so far. Hope you like!

_Chapter six: Give him a Chace!_

Maria's P.O.V.

I really do find Cream sweet and nice. She's an adorable little girl. But I could _not _focus on her stories about how she, some guy named Sonic, and her friends stopped this Eggman guy from destroying the world all the time.

From what I could tell, they sounded interesting. But it's hard to consintrait when all I could see were those glowing red eyes...

Shadow.

Why couldn't I stop thinking about him? Everywhere I turn, I see him. I try to close my eyes, but his eyes just gleam more. Those big ruby-red eyes. The look of sadness and pain.

I hadn't even given him a chance.

And now I regretted it.

My eyes were full of unwanted tears. Tears I wouldn't let fall. Couldn't let fall. For the sake of Cream. She shouldn't have to watch me act younger than herself.

I self-consciously fingered the necklace around my neck. For some reason, it makes me feel closer to him.

Was there a connection between the only two things I still had from my past?

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear the door bell ring.

Didn't see Cream slip off the couch to answer it.

If I had, I would've gone to answer it myself. Cream was only six, and her mom had left to visit a friend, leaving me in charge of her little girl.

Me, a stranger.

I snapped back to life when I heard voices around me.

Opening my eyes, I was introduced to four girls.

Amy Rose; the pink hedgehog,

Rouge; the white bat,

Blaze; the lavender cat,

and Orca; the black and white cat(A.N. Orca is Frost's gf, and is not related to Blaze).

Cream skipped off into the kitchen to grab some snacks.

"My name's Maria," I told them.

All four of them exchanged looks.

I realised they must be closer to Shadow than Cream and her mother are.

They must know something about me.

"Maria?" Amy repeated. "As in, Maria Robotnik? Shadow's Maria?"

"Not exactly the best definition, but yeah. That's me," I replied with a smile.

Four jaws dropped open.

"You're Shadow's girlfriend?" Orca asked, shocked.

"Uh...no," I said quickly. "More like aquantice."

"Aquantince?" Rouge scoffed. "Girl, you're tripping!"

"I'm sitting on the couch!"

Rouge giggled. "Well, one thing's for sure, you _have _been gone a while."

"It's an expression," Blaze told me. "It means, you're very wrong."

Rouge nodded. "You and Shadow were, friends-but-more-than-friends, remember?"

I shook my head.

"You lost your memory," Amy murmured. "Just like Shadow."

"Shadow talks about you all the time," Blaze laughed.

"And dreams about you," Orca echoed.

"Even the first time I met him, it was Maria-this, and Maria-that," Rouge jabbed.

Amy nodded eagerly. "And he even risked his life just to keep a promise you two made. And we actually thought he _did_ die."

I gasped softly. I had _no _idea what the promise was, but he had done that...for me?

I was starting to get a really bad feeling in my stomach.

My act this morning was starting to sound...cruel.

"I'm back!" Cream called out, carrying several bags of chips and cookies. "Mama said we can snack on these until she gets back, then we'll have pizza."

"Sounds good!" Amy said, helping the small rabbit. "I'm on a diet, but I guess I can let it slide tonight."

"A diet?" I asked. "But you're so skinny!"

Amy shrugged.

"She'll do anything for the love of Sonic," Rouge giggled.

Amy blushed.

"Oh," I said giving Amy a wink. "I'm sure you'll get him."

"Thanks."

"Let's play Secrates!" Rouge announced loudly.

"Oooh! I love that game!" Orca laughed.

"Me too!" Amy and Cream said at the same time. The two girls looked at each other and gasped. "Jinx!" They yelled at the same time. "DOUBLE JINX!" "TRIPPLE JINX!" They started raising out of their seats.

"What are they doing?" I asked with pure shock. "And what is Secrates?"

"A game where you tell us all you greatest secrate," Blaze once again explained for me.

Amy and Cream finally calmed down.

"Yeah!" Amy said breathlessly, grabbing at bag of Cheetos, and opening them.

"I call going first!" Cream said.

Rouge nodded. "OK. We'll go like this; Cream, me, Blaze, Orca, Amy, and then Maria." She looked at me. "That way you get the hang of it."

At my nod, Cream began.

"OK, my biggest secrate is that I like Tails," she blushed slightly at saying his name.

The room erupted with 'awwwws.' I congratulated her, even though I had no clue who Tails was.

"My turn!" Rouge cleared her thought and gave us all a serious face.

"Knuckie and I did IT last night."

My face turned white.

Amy quickly reached over and covered Cream's ears while she yelled at Rouge.

Orca shook her head with disbelief.

Blaze buried her face in her hands and muttered, "Oh my gosh."

"CAN'T YOU BE APPROPRAIT FOR ONCE IN YOUR DARN LIFE!" Amy screamed.

"Yeash! Just playing by the rules, pinky."

"I AM NOT PINKY!"

"Uh...It's Blaze's turn, right?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

I was sure I would _never_ be able to look Rouge in the face from now on.

"Yeah, Blaze go ahead," Amy said uncovering Cream's ears.

Blaze blushed. "Oh. Well. It's not as _interesting _as Rouge's here."

"Good," Amy said flatly. "From now on, let's stick to PG for the rest of the night. Agreed?" she asked, glaring at Rouge with her emerald-green eyes.

I just noticed that Amy's eyes were the _same _shade as Shadow's Chaos Emerald.

Gosh. Does _everything _have to remind me of him?

Ok," Blaze said nervously. She took a deep breath. "Silver and I are going out. We have been for two weeks now."

"WHAT?!" Amy gasped. "You've been going out with Sliver? Why didn't you tell us?" She asked, a little sad.

"Nervous," Blaze said plainly.

Orca nodded. "Keeps a lot of things under wraps doesn't it?"

Blaze nodded.

"And speaking of under wraps," Rouge said slyly.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Amy was off again.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "I was gonna ask Orca what her big secrate was," she said with annoyance.

"Oh," Amy said sheepishly.

Orca giggled. "Ok, ready for this?"

We all nodded eagerly.

"Ok. Here it is," she paused dramatically. "I LOVE TUNA!"

"What kind of secrate is _that?" _Rouge asked with shock.

"Uhhh. Don't know!" She laughed. "I guess Frost's craziness has been getting to me."

"Oh. Please. No!" Blaze exclaimed.

We all laughed.

"My turn!" Amy said finally. "And you guys won't believe this one."

"Ok, surprise us," Cream challenged.

"Ok! Well, a long, long, long, long, long time ago, I had a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, crush on...Shadow," her face was so red, it looked like a tomato.

"What?!" Everyone was shocked, especially me, and I didn't know why.

"BUT I DON'T ANY MORE!" She pleaded her case. "SONIC IS STILL THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! IT'S JUST THAT AT THAT TIME, HE WAS BEING A REAL JERK, AND SHADOW WAS BEING NICE TO ME! BUT IT'S TOTALLY OVER ME NOW! I MEAN, HE'S SO...EMO!"

For some reason, that offended me. A lot.

"HE IS NOT!" I yelled, standing up.

Amy was shocked.

So was I.

"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, sitting down. "I don't know what came over me."

Amy laughed nervously. "No worries. I get like that when people bad-mouth Sonic. I should have watched my mouth."

I smiled.

So did Amy.

"Ok, Maria, you're turn, right?" Orca asked.

"Go ahead, Maria," Amy said.

I took a deep breath.

I hadn't even been alive long enough to develop a big secrate.

Besides the whole deal with Shadow.

I groaned inwardly. _I must have something better than that!_

"We're waiting," Rouge said sing-songy.

With a heavy heart, I finally blabbed out the whole thing. What had happened. My mixed feelings about it.

The girls listened quietly, all the fun was over. It was time to be serious.

"Sounds like you're in a pickle," Rouge said finally.

I looked at her puzzled.

"Another expression," Amy said.

"You in trouble," Cream translated.

I nodded. "I feel awful about it. Like I should have at least given him...a chance."

"I know how that feels," Orca said softly. "Sometimes, I blow up at Frost for no reason at all. Maybe I had a bad day. A fight with a friend. Then I turn and take it out on him. Later, I feel terrible."

"What do you do?" I asked.

"Apologise," Orca said plainly. "Works every time."

"Giving people a chance," Rouge murmured. "It's important."

"That's what I did with Sonic, for years," Amy said flushed. "And I'm glad we did. Earlier this week, he told me that he really did love me, and we've been going out since then." She finally noticed what she was saying and blushed.

"You and Sonic are going out?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah," Amy said quietly.

"Then that whole Shadamy thing was fake, wasn't it? Just so you didn't have to tell us the bigger picture!" Rouge said triumphantly.

"No!" Amy protested. "Well, yes kind of. I did used to like Shadow briefly. But yes I did use it as an excuse."

We laughed.

"Well, thanks guys," I said. "I think I'll talk to him when I get the chance."

I said it all calm and cool, but inside, it was taking everything I had not to ask where he lived and go there right now.

_Yeash! I'm nuts._

"Let's watch a movie!" Rouge suggested.

"PG!" Amy yelled.

"I KNOW!" Rouge yelled back with a laugh.

We were so absorbed in the movie, that we didn't notice when Ms. Vanilla got back. She did make us pizza, however, and it was great! Best pizza I've had in, oh wait. That was my first time!

The movie was almost over, when someone knocked on the door.

I wasn't really paying attention.

Ms. Vanilla was getting it after all.

"Oh, hello, Shadow."

My ears perked up.

_Whaaaa?_

**Lusay: **Finished! YEAH! I think Rouge went a bit far there, but, oh well. Such is the life of a treasure hunter. (Snickers) Ok! Well see you all later, bye! Peace out!


	7. Chapter 7: About Ivo

**Lusay: **Here's the next chapter. Now to see why Shadow came back. Not that it wasn't a bad time, but still. Why?

_Chapter seven: About Ivo_

_Shadow's P.O.V._

Why?

A good question if you ask me. Maria had made it perfectly clear that not only can she remember me, but she wasn't interested with continuing our friendship, let alone a relationship.

Yep, I was crushed. But I wasn't backing down either.

Why?

Because I'm Shadow the hedgehog.

I didn't back down while fighting the BioLizard.

I didn't back down fighting the FinalHazard.

I didn't back down after I woke up in the middle of a shoot out with absolutely no memory.

I didn't back down trying to get that memory back.

I didn't back down stopping the Black Arms, or making sure Maria's promise stayed fulfilled.

I have never backed down before, and I was _not _gonna now.

I had to talk to her.

I had to tell her how much I missed her.

How much I love her.

I had to tell her these, and many more.

I just had to.

Maybe it would be enough.

Maybe she'll remember...

That's why I came back to Cream's house. Knowing her mother, she'd keep Maria there for at least twenty-four hours.

I nervously knocked on the door, even though there was a bell.

_What's wrong with me? Why am I shaking like this?_

Cream's mother opened the door and looked at me with surprise.

"Oh, hello Shadow. What brings you here...again."

"Is Maria still here?" I asked quietly.

"Yes," Ms. Vanilla said kindly. "Do you want to speak with her?"

I nodded.

"Want to came in, dear?" She asked.

"I'd rather her come out here, if that's ok with her."

I couldn't get rid of the deep blush on my face even if I had tried.

Ms. Vanilla nodded and slipped back inside for a second.

I took a deep breath, wiping my sweaty, shaking hands on my legs. Ugh. I hadn't felt this nervous since the Christmas party on the ARK...

Finally, Maria appeared at the door, giving me a smile. It was small, and seemed forced.

But it was a smile.

"Hi," she said softly. She sounded almost exactly like she used to, but now she sounds older. The moonlight shaded her blond quills perfectly, making her gorgeous blue eyes shine even more than they usually did.

I tried to give her a smile, but ended up grimacing. It's been a while since I tried it last.

"H-h-hi," I said in a shaky voice that sounded nothing like my own.

I needed air. Lots of it.

"Uh...do you wanna walk?" I asked.

Maria paused to think about it. "Sure."

I took a deep breath and led her to the back of the house, where Cream and her mother had the most amazing flower garden on earth.

Maria gasped. "Oh, wow!" She gasped, sinking to the ground and burying her face in a lily.

I smiled. Flowers have always been a weakness to her, even back on the ARK. She had tons of picture books on the topic, and she knew the names of many by heart. Every year, she had asked her scientist friend Amelia to bring back some flowers when she went on her yearly trip. And she did. Roses, lilies, daffodils, lilacs, the works. They had never lasted long, but Maria had cared for them the best she could until they faded.

And now, I had the opportunity to introduce them to her in the real world.

"They're so beautiful," Maria whispered, fingering the delicate petals.

I bent down beside her and plucked one of the dozens of beautiful white flowers.

Maria gasped. "Are you supposed to do that?" She whispered.

I didn't know. And I didn't care at all.

"I'm sure it's fine," I assured her, tucking it in her long quills.

"Shadow..."

Her words trailed off as I ran my hand down her quills, brushing my hand acrossed her cheek.

"You're even more beautiful than the flowers, I hope you know that," I said softly.

She blushed a little. "Thanks Shadow."

I took out my green Chaos Emerald and handed it to her.

"Here, take this," I told her.

"What? Why?" She asked, taking the jewel in her hands.

The way it reflected off her face...

"Well," I shrugged, looking away. "My boss needed yours, so I decided to give you mine. You might need it."

Maria smiled. This one was big. "Thank you Shadow!" She said happily, giving me a hug.

I was surprised. I hadn't done anything big in my book. But at least she was happy.

"I'm sure Ivo will put it to good use," she said really quietly.

Whaaaaaaat?

Ok, if this had been about anything, _anything_ else, I would've let it go.

The moment would've been too valuable to waste.

But this?

No way.

"Ivo?" I repeated, jerking out of the embrace and looking her in the eye. "You mean the doctor?"

Maria nodded, confused. "Yeah. Why?"

"Gosh, Maria, you can't be anywhere near him!"

Maria was starting to look ticked again, but I had to at least warn her.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," I said jumping to my feet. "He's gonna hurt you!"

Maria gasped and rose to her feet too. "Ivo would never to something like that! He's trying to _help _me!"

"Help you?" I scoffed. "Right. He's using you, Maria. Just like he's used me in the past."

"No he is not!" Maria yelled.

"He is!" I yelled back. "He's a greedy, evil madman, who'll do whatever he can to rule the world! As soon as he's done with you, he'll toss you! Or maybe even kill you! I can't let that happen to you!"

"YOU'RE NOT IN CHARGE OF ME!" Maria screamed. "And stop talking to my cousin that way!"

"EVERYTHING I'VE SAID IS TRUE!"  
"WELL, GUESS WHAT?"

"WHAT?!"

"I DON'T NEED YOU, YOU-YOU EMO!" She yelled so loud, I'm sure everyone inside could hear.

I was stunned. A lot of people have called me emo, but I'd never expect that from her.

I couldn't believe she had said it.

She glared at me with hatred burning in her eyes. Yanking out the flower in her quills, she tossed it at my feet angrily.

"AND TAKE THIS BACK TOO!"

After giving me one more threatening glare, she turned around and stomped inside.

I sighed and picked up the flower, trying to fight the tears.

"Shads, you blew it. And you blew it good."

**Lusay: **Awwwwww! Poor Shadow!:( They were soooooooooo close too! hmmmm... Oh, I forgot to tell you all that Orca is also copyright of me. So, with that said, I'm gonna have a good cry! I'd say 'peace' but I don't have any!


	8. Chapter 8: Forget About It!

**Lusay: **Hi! Got the next chapter up and ready. Hope you all enjoy!

_Chapter eight: Forget About It!_

_Maria's P.O.V._

By 2:00 this afternoon I had finally gotten out of Cream's nightmare of a party. I'm sorry! But everyone was dying to know why Shadow and I had a private screaming competition. Excpecially Rouge. She even threatened to call Shadow if I didn't tell her. I personally felt like smacking that little smirk right off her- sigh. See? Everytime I see him my head gets all fuzzy and I can't keep my emotions straight.I'd beter avoid him like the pleage or else I'll end up in jail.

I had finally handed over that annoying Chaos Emerald to Ivo, though all I could think of was Shadow's rather rude warning. Was this really the right thing to do?

"It's about time," my cousin said grumpy. "I thought you said you could get that wretched Emerald in no time."

"Uh, well," I stammered. "Some things are easier said than done."

Ivo nodded slowly and placed the Emerald in his machine. "Well, as much as I hate to say this, a promise is a promise, so go on! Shooo! Just be careful and keep in touch. I might need your help one of these days."

I beamed. "Thank you!" I shrieked, running up to him and planting a big fat kiss on his bald head.

"Urrrr, uh, don't mention it," he grumbled as I zoomed out the door toward my room.

I grabbed all my favorite clothes and books and stuffed them in a backpack. Then after taking a much-needed shower, I slipped into a hot pink sweater and black slacks. This was my favorite outfit, aside from the dress. I ran a brush through my quills, brushed my teeth, and was out nearly as fast as I was coming in.

Of course, Ivo wanted me to say goodbye to him and his closest robots, which I did.

"Good-bye Maria!" Decoe called.

"Have fun out there in the world!" Bocoe echoed.

"Be safe!" Bokkun shouted.

"Watch your back!"

"Stay away from hyperactive hedgehogs!"

"Ok!" I laughed. "Bye!"

(Ten minutes later)

"Woah!" I breathed. I was in some sort of city, for the first time. I marveled at the huge skyscrapers, dozens of big loud machines that seemed to swallow people through several mouths on the sides and pretty much owned the streets, and lots of people, some were Mobian, some human. Some being eaten or thrown up by the giant metal distroyers-on-wheels, others walked, like myself. People eating, shopping, talking, loving, the works! And yes, there were people shouting at each other too. Did I look that bad in my argument with Shadow?

That's just embarrassing!

I looked around, seeing several people crossing the street. Maybe I should try.

I walked off the curb into the road.

"Hey, lady," some guy called after me. "You're supposed to wait until-!"

HONK!

By natural instinct, I jumped as high as I could, watching one of those killing machines zoom under my feet. Landing, I booked to for the other side of the road, just barely missing several others.

"Woah there, little missy!" Someone shouted, grabbing my arm before a tripped over the curb.

I looked up to see a police officer.

"Crossing the street like that is dangerous, you could've gotten hit by one of those cars. I've seen it happen. Some hot-shot runs out into the street and is roadkill before he even knows what hit him!"

I gasped. "Sir, I am so sorry!" I pleaded. "You see, this is my first time in the city, and I have no clue what those things are, but I didn't realise that I-" I was cut off by the officer's laugh.

"Alright! Alright! You're not in trouble!" He chuckled. "You would've been, if you had gotten hit. But I got the jest of it. Country girl, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that," I muttered.

The officer nodded. "Well, see those lights on the corner?"

"Yeah."

"They tell you when it's safe to cross. Green always means go. Red is always stop. And always cross at one of those points."

"T-t-thank you, sir," I said sheepishly, after the lecture on something so simple. I guess I really am from space. "It won't happen again."

The officer nodded and let me go. I smiled at him and continued my walk, hoping I wouldn't have another one of those idiotic moments. Hey! If I walk on green and stop on red I should be perfectly fine with those...cars.

I was busy gawking at some really cute couple kissing at this table and thinking about how sweet Shadow had been before our blow-up, when I smacked into something.

"Ow! Hey! Watch where you're go- hey, are you ok?"

I rubbed my aching head and looked into the brightest pair of green eyes I had ever seen.

Sonic's P.O.V.

I quickly jumped to my feet and stuck out my hand. The girl took it and let me help her up.

"I'm really sorry!" I apologised.

"No, it was my fault," The blond hedgehog said nervously. "I should've watched where I was going."

"Guess that makes two of us," I grinned. "I was too busy noticing a new chille dog stand. By the way, I'm Sonic! Sonic the hedgehog!" I gave her one of my famous thumbs-up.

"I'm Maria," the girl said softly.

I was utterly confused. And I'm sure my jaw had dropped far enough to catch butterflies in. And a lot of people were trying to push past us. This was defiantly not a good place to talk about this.

"Um, nice name," I said quickly. "So, Maria, you hungry? We could try out that chille dog place?" Please, please, please! Amy, don't randomly jump out of nowhere like you always do. I am not trying to ask this girl out! If she's Maria, then I already know who's got dibs on her. But I had to know if she was Maria Robotnik, and chille dogs were the first thing I could think of!

Maria cocked her head a bit. "I guess I could go for something. But, I've never tried a chille dog before."

I smiled. "Then you've gotta try one! They're the best idea since, well, me!"

Maria laughed. "Ok, then. I guess I know what you think of yourself."

I nodded. "fastest thing alive, butt-kicking hero, arch-enemy of the Egghead, arch-rival of Shadow the hedgehog, boyfriend of the beautiful Amy Rose, hero of several different worlds and dementions, best friend of Miles 'Tales' Prower, and chille dog devourer! That's Sonic the hedgehog in a nutshell."

Maria blinked her blue eyes and laughed again. "Ok! Well, let's try those chille dogs then."

"I though you'd never ask! Right this way!" I was so excited about the chille dogs, that I forgot how fast I was. I just zoomed down the street, a blue blur and a yellow hedgehog left behind. Woops! I was about to make a U-turn, when a yellow streak zoomed to my side. Maria? What? Ok. The whole fact with her supposed to be dead and human was confusing enough! But this!?

I was somehow able to keep quiet about it, until we got our snacks and were sitting at a table nearby the shack.

"So, you're Maria Robotnik?" I asked, eating one of my six deluxe chille dogs in one bite.

Maria nodded around her small nibbled that had hardly touched the dog.

"You're Shadow's girlfriend?" I asked, my voice getting louder. And grabbed another chille dog and swallowed it while she answered.

"Actually, I'm not quite sure yet."

"What?!"

"Listen, it's really hard to understand, but you see, I kinda lost my memory, and a lot of weird stuff like that. I've met Shadow about twice since I've become Mobian and both times weren't exactly pretty."

"So, Shadow knows you're back?" I asked. I was already on my fourth dog.

Maria nodded. "I still don't really know about him. I mean like if I should like him or even trust him."

I smirked around my food. "Who doesn't?"

Maria sighed, looking really put down about the whole thing. I gave her a big smile and handed her my last chille dog, even though she still wasn't done with her one.

"Hey, forget about it!" I said. "Just smile!"

Maria looked at me like I had suggested we jump off a cliff.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

I shrugged. "I'm just saying that why worry and ask ourselves questions we can't possibly answer? If you have time to worry, then run! Not away from the problem per say, but everything will work itself out in the end. I've seen it happen. Even with people like Shadow, who try to fight it as much as possible." I winked.

Maria gave me a small smile.

"See? That's what I was looking for!" I exclaimed.

She laughed. "Thanks Sonic."

"No problem!" I said sheepishly. "Well, if you're done eating, let's go for a run! I have some guys I want you to meet."

"Like who?" Maria asked standing up.

"The Sonic Heroes, of course!"


	9. Chapter 9: A visit to the Doctor

**Lusay: **Hi! I'm back with a new chapter! But first I want to ask two people a very important question. So please welcome Sonic and Maria!

(Cheering)

**Sonic: **Um...ok! Hello everyone! Sonic the hedgehog here!

**Maria: **Since when has this become a talk show?

**Lusay: **Since you two became a couple.

**Sonic + Maria:** WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? WE ARE NOT A COUPLE!

**Lusay: **Are you sure?

**Maria: **Yes!

**Sonic: **absolutely! I have enough problems being Amy's boyfriend. I don't want to get into a whole cheating gig.

**Lusay: **Well, if that's the truth, ok. Because I know two hedgehogs who have been screaming at me ever since a wrote that chapter. And they were armed for Pete's sake!

**Sonic: **Why do I get the feeling that those two just happened to be Shadow and Amy?

**Maria: **That doesn't surprise me at all.

**Lusay: **Hey! Should we change this to a Soniaria and Shadamy story? (yuck)

**Sonic + Maria: **NO! JUST START THE CHAPTER ALREADY!

**Lusay: **Fine by me. Enjoy viewers! And just so you know, if you PM me, you can ask a question for any of the characters, as long as it's story related. Anyway, Enjoy!

_Chapter nine: A visit to the Doctor_

Shadow's P.O.V.

With the Shadow Rifle cocked and ready, I waited silently, in the forest surrounding my target. I was here for three reasons.

One; to get some answers. Such as, what the heck did Eggman do to brainwash my best friend and the love of my life so that we can't even talk for five minutes without arguing? We hardly ever fought on the ARK.

Two; Get my Chaos Emerald back. If she was giving it to the Doctor, I was gonna take it right back.

And three; Give him a sample of what I'm gonna do to him if he dares to hurt Maria in any way.

"Hey you! What are you doing here?"

I turned and pointed my gun toward the voice, and almost smacked it into Rouge's nose.

"Bet you're surprised to see me. You didn't even know I had followed you from your house did you?" She asked, lowering the gun with her finger.

"And why are you following me?" I asked, glaring at her.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Jeez take a hint already. Do you really think we couldn't hear you two yelling at the top of your lungs last night? I tried to get Maria to talk about it, but she was being really secretive. What's going on?"

I shook my head. "None of your business. Now leave. I have some business to attend to with the Doctor."

Rouge's ears perked up like they always do when she thinks she's about to get a good scoop. "What kind of business, hon?"

"Could you just leave already?"

"Not until I find out what the big secret is," Rouge said with a smirk. "Come on! What is it?"

"Rouge," I said slowly. "If you don't shut up and leave this instant, I'm going to kill you."

"Nice try," she said sarcastically. "But your threats don't scare me. We're on the same team."

I growled.

"But," Rouge continued. "We might be able to make a deal."

"What kind of deal?" I asked carefully.

"I help you get in and stop nagging you about Maria, and you give me a Chaos Emerald!" She exclaimed happily.

"No thanks. I'd rather shoot you and go alone."

Rouge planted her hands on her hips. "Listen up Shadow the hedgehog. You're gonna need a super spy in order to get into Eggy's base without being detected. I know that base like the back of my hand. It's a simple I help you if you help me. I'm a busy girl, but I'll hold up my offer one more time. If you don't except, well then, so long for sneaking up on Eggman. He'll catch you before you make it to the door. And where would that leave you? With no Chaos Emerald and no free hits."

"How did you know I'm out of Chaos Emeralds?"

Rouge smirked. "I told you I was a super spy. I know a lot more about you than you think."

Ok. That is a little creepy.

"Fine," I muttered. "But if you get in my way, I won't hesitate to kill you."

She scoffed. "Get in your way? I'm the one leading, Shady."

"Shadow," I corrected. "Now, let's go."

Rouge winked. "Right this way."

Tails' P.O.V.

"Yo! Tails! Are you home? I've got someone I want you to meet!"

I turned off the drill I was using and checked my computer monitor. Sonic and some yellow hedgehog were outside my door. That's weird.

"Sure Sonic!" I said over the speaker. "Come right in, I'm in the workshop." I pushed the 'unlock fount door' button on my computer and waited for my best friend to get here.

"Hey buddy!" Sonic said cheery, giving me a huge hug as he entered the workshop with the girl.

"Hey Sonic!" I hugged him back and locked the door through the computer.

I wiped my brow and turned to the quiet blond hedgehog. "So who is this?"

Sonic grinned. "Tails, meet Maria Robotnik. Maria, meet Miles Prower, or as we call him, Tails."

Maria smiled. "Nice to meet you, Tails," she said extending her hand.

I shook it, all though I was shocked out of my mind. "Likewise," I said politely. "So, you're Maria Robotnik?"

She nodded slowly.

My jaw dropped.

Sonic nodded. "So, Tails? You think you could scan her or something? I've got the same questions you do."

I nodded. "Yeah. I could do that. Are you up for it, Maria?"

"A scan?" She asked.

I nodded again. "I'd only need a tiny bit of DNA. My computer should take care of the rest."

Sonic nodded. "Piece of cake!"

Maria smiled. "Ok, sure," she said, yanking out one of her golden quills. "Here you go," she said, handing it to me.

"Thanks," I said. "The test results might take a while, so I could call Sonic when they're done if you guys wanna go somewhere."

"Phone's dead," Sonic said plainly.

"Why is your phone always dead?" I complained. "What if someone needed to get a hold of you fast?"

Sonic shrugged. "We'll be back in two hours, Ok? That should be enough time for your results and for Maria to meet the rest of the Sonic Heroes."

Maria nodded. "Is that a good time for you, Tails?"

I smiled. "Sure. I'll be here."

Sonic gave me a thumbs-up. "Coolio! Let's get moving! Places to go! People to see!"

The two hedgehogs left in a clod of dust. I shook my head, still smiling. It was normal for Sonic to make short trips like that. That was typical Sonic-behavior. I wonder where Shadow is though. If he knows about Maria, it'd make more sence if he was with her. Oh, well. I shouldn't worry.

I took the quill in my hand and placed it inside a slot in my computer.

Shadow's P.O.V.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I hissed.

"I told you," Rouge said as she crawled through the air duct. "I know this place like the back of my hand. I know exactly where we are. We're in sector C about to reach the lab."

I groaned and continued to follow her on my hands and knees. How many times has Rouge gone crawling through the Doctor's air ducts?

"Here we are," the bat said, stopping and turning around to face me. "We're right above him."

I peaked through the vent to see the Doctor working over his computer.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Rouge asked.

I nodded and quietly lifted the vent from it's place. Then I jumped down.

"Arrrrgh!" Eggman shouted as I landed two feet away from him. "Shadow?! When are you going to learn to use the door?!"

"Alright, Doctor," I said angrily, drawing out the Shadow Rifle. "I want answers, and I want them now."

Eggman frowned. "Why should I tell you anything? You're alone, and all I have to do is push a little button to get back up."

"He's not alone," Rouge said landing on the ground beside me.

"We are very able to destroy your entire base, Doctor," I said triumphantly. "Might as well cooperate and sit down."

Eggman laughed. "Yeah, right." He pushed a button, and the Egg Mobile hovered to him. He jumped inside and pushed a few more buttons. Then next thing we know, he's inside the Death Egg Bot.

"Wasn't that thing destroyed a long time ago?" Rouge asked.

"Yes," Eggman laughed. "But who says I can't recreate my ingenious designs with better upgrades? Anyway, you two can die now, thank you."

I rolled my eyes. "You asked for it, Doctor!"


	10. Chapter 10: Replay tape

**Lusay: **Hello again! Here is the next chapter. I can't believe I'm already on chapter ten! Wow! Anyway, hope you all are enjoying it as much as I am. I'm really sorry that it took longer than usual to get this chapter, but I hit a huge road block in the story line. The thing that was supposed to happen here didn't work out right and I was totally lost. So I sent out an SOS to some of the people reviewing, favoriting, and following my story, asking what should happen next. So, a special thanks to TheDivines, Xx-ILuvMusic-xX, SonictheChristianHedgie, and LunarEclipseKid for answering my distress signal and giving me some really sweet feedback. So without further or do, here's chapter ten!

_Chapter ten: Replay Tape_

Maria's P.O.V.

"That's when I got to beat the snot out of him," Silver said triumphantly.

Sonic shook his head. "Look. I went easy on you. I could've easily kicked your butt!"

Silver laughed. "No you couldn't. You just needed Amy to come help you because you were too helpless."

"You were beating him up!" Amy whimpered.

I laughed as Silver, Blaze, Sonic and Amy told me the story of how they met Silver, who was apparently from the future.

"And even the next time I saw you, I almost killed you," Silver told the blue hedgehog.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Almost. But I'm still here!"

"Only because Shadow had to come save your sorry hide!"

Blaze laughed. "So, did you win against Shadow, Silvy?"

Silver blushed. "Well, no," he admitted.

Sonic smiled. "Ahhh. See? But I can beat Faker!"

"When he lets you," Silver said disgustedly. "How was I supposed to know about that cheap trick he uses? I can't do anything about his annoying Chaos Control."

"But you guys ended up working together, right?" I asked. "I mean, you're friends now."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. After Shadow showed Silver that I was not the Iblis Trigger, he came back with Blaze to help me save Elise. But it was kinda too late. Eggman's ship went down in flames."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Time travel," Silver said. "Guess I learned something from Shadow's little cheat."

Sonic nodded. "I went back in time to save the princess, while Silver and Blaze went back to the future to seal Iblis."

Silver nodded. "Elise's father showed me how to do that when Shadow and I went further into the past. So with the two Emeralds we had, I tried to get Iblis sealed in my soul, but it wouldn't except me."

"I knew it would work with me though," Blaze said, picking up the story. "I was of a royal family. So I steeled Iblis inside me and told Silver to send me to a different dimension. But he wouldn't."

"I couldn't do that to you, Blaze," Silver said sadly.

Blaze nodded and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I understand," she said comfortingly. "But sometimes we must sacrifice ourselves for the good of those we love the most."

I nodded. Somehow, I understood what she ment.

Silver nodded mutely.

"But the story wasn't over yet," Amy said. "After Blaze sent herself into the other dimension, everyone, besides her, was transported to the middle of nowhere. I was shocked to see Elise, with a dead Sonic!"

"Sonic died?" I asked, looking at the Blue Blur.

Sonic shrugged sheepishly

Amy sniffed tearfully. "It was terrible! My poor Sonic, dead! It was the worst thing that had ever happened to me."

Silver sighed. "But that wasn't the greatest of our concerns. Apperently Mephilis managed to join with Iblis, creating Solaris. Dr. Eggman said that it would keep eating away at time until it became nothing. Knuckles said we had to defeat it, but Eggman said that it exists in the past, present, and future. destroying it now, would do nothing."

Amy nodded. "Silver said that he'd destroy them all at once if he had to. That was just like him too. Thinking the impossible. Shadow said it couldn't be done without Sonic, which just made me feel worst. But then Elise said she didn't think Sonic was dead yet. That's when Silver had the great idea of using the Chaos Emerald to revive him. I quickly agreed to help find them. After they were all found, Elise did her speech and you wouldn't belive it, SHE KISSED MY SONIC! MY SONIC!" Amy had suddenly gone from sorrowful, to furious in a matter of seconds.

Sonic facepalmed himself. "Ames, you know it wasn't my fault, right? I was dead at the time."

"I know," Amy said. "But still. You're mine, not hers!"

I smiled. "So, Sonic was back. What happened then?"

Sonic grinned. "Well, then it was...SUPER SONIC TIME!"

I blinked. "Super _what?!"_

Silver rolled his eyes. "Shadow and I were also Super. It wasn't all you."

Sonic laughed. "But it was mostly me! Shadow said himself that it couldn't be done without me!"

"Who are Super Sonic, Super Shadow, and Super Silver?" I asked.

"Those are those guys' forms when they have all seven Chaos Emeralds," Amy explained.

Sonic nodded. "So after we kicked Solaris' butt, I took Elise back in time to destroy it back when it was a tiny flame. Which ment that everything that just happened, never really happened anymore."

"So Elise never kissed you!" Amy said happily.

"And I never got beat up by Silver!" Sonic said triumphantly.

"And Blaze never had to seal herself in a different dimension," Silver said with a smile.

Blaze nodded. "That's when Sliver and I decided to stay here. The future was safe now, thanks to everyone."

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "Sounds like you guys have some pretty big adventures."

"Ehhhhh, sometimes," Sonic shrugged. "but most of the time, it's just dealing with Eggma-"

It was then that we heard a loud crashing sound, and turned to see a gigantic metal wyvern thing in the sky.

"The Egg Wyvern?" Sonic asked. "Didn't I destroyed that thing a long time ago?"

"Well, you know Eggman," Amy shrugged.

"Stop it Shadow! I already told you I'm not going to give you anything!" That was Ivo!

"We already destroyed your base," Shadow yelled from the ground, not too far from us. "Just surrender, Doctor!"

"NO!" Ivo shouted back.

"Shad-ow!" Rouge whined, landing beside the black and red hedgehog. "My wings are killing me! I thought you said that leading him out here was a _good _idea!"

"It is," Shadow insisted. "I just need to think through the rest."

"WHAT?!"

"Hey, Shadster!" Sonic called out loudly. "Need a hand? We've got some!"

Shadow glared at Sonic. "I don't need your help."

"Yes we do!" Rouge shouted. "Come on, guys."

Sonic nodded. "Let's get that Egghead outta the city!"

He, Shadow, Rouge, Silver, and Blaze ran off. Amy turned to me.

"Just stay here, ok? We don't want you to get hurt."

I nodded and watched her ran off, though I seriously doubted getting hurt.

So I guess Shadow wasn't the only one against my cousin. What was everyone's problem with him anyway?

But still. I couldn't help but think about what Blaze had said. That sometimes we must sacrifice ourselves for the good of those we love the most. Then I remembered something...

Maria's Flashback

"Six of the classes at your school are going to the pool for a swimming party. That means one hundred, twenty-five students need to get on buses and each bus holds forty-eight students. How many buses will the school need? Oh, I hate word problems!" I sighed. "When will Shadow get here and make this easier?"

I absent-mindedly twirled a lock of my hair around with my finger like I always did when I was trying to think hard. But I still didn't get the problem.

Sighing with defeat, I turned my eyes to the large window in the observation deck and stared at the beautiful planet earth. I crossed my fingers, squeezed my eyes shut, and whispered my prayer.

"Someday, Shadow and I will go there."

That was my prayer everyday. What I wanted more then anything else. It would happen soon. I just knew it would.

BANG!

The loud noise snapped me out of my daydream. What had happened? It sounded like one of the experiments had exploded or something. Was everyone ok?

Not bothering to worry about myself, I jumped to my feet and ran toward the area the sound had came from. When I got there, I gasped.

"Amelia!"

I fell on my knees beside the young scientist. She was soaked in blood coming from a wound in the back of her head.

"Who did this to you?" I asked tearfully, realising she was gone. Amelia had been a really close friend of mine, not near as close as Shadow, but still. I hated to see this happen to anyone.

"Maria!" I turned and dove into Shadow, burying my face in his chest.

Shadow stroked my hair, holding me close. "Thank goodness you're ok."

"Yeah," I said pulling away and looking back at Amelia. "But she's not. What's going on here?"

Shadow shook his head. "I'm not sure. But it seems we're under attack."

I was shocked. "What?! By who?"

"G.U.N." Shadow said plainly. "I guess they're not too fond of what's going on up here."

"So they come up and shoot everybody?" I asked with disbelief. "That doesn't seem right."

"I don't know," Shadow said, shaking his head. "But we have to get out of here."

"But what about Grandfather?" I asked.

"They already have him in custody," Shadow said sadly.

I nodded and stood up. "Then we should get going then."

Shadow nodded.

BANG!

A bullet was fired, landing right in between Shadow and I.

"There's the subject and the girl," one of the five soldiers called out.

Shadow grabbed my hand and started pulling me down the corridor. I checked behind me, seeing the soldiers hot on our trail.

"Shadow, they're catching up!" I said frightened.

Shadow glanced behind us and ran faster, practically dragging me behind. I was starting to have trouble breathing. Why did my sickness have to interfere at a time like this?

"S-S-Shadow!" I panted. "I-I-I can't go like this!"

Being the stubborn hedgehog he is, Shadow merely gripped my hand tighter and wouldn't stop until we reached a room with an escape pod.

By that time, I knew how useless my escape was. How could I make it anywhere with my sickness? So I did the craziest thing I had ever done.

I pushed Shadow in the pod and slammed the button shut behind him.

"MARIA!"' shadow screamed, turning around and immediately banging on the glass. "What are you doing?!"

"Listen Shadow!" I pleaded. "You have a better chance of making it! It's you they want anyway."

"Open the door!" Shadow ordered.

I shook my head. "Sorry Shadow. We both knew I would die soon. I guess that day is today."

"No!" Shadow protested. "Open the door, Maria!"

The soldiers finally got there and raised their guns. I gasped.

"MARIA!"

One of the guns fired, striking me in the chest. I gasped and closed my eyes.

"NO!" Shadow yelled. I could hear him banging on the glass like a mad-man, but there was no use.

I opened my eyes and brought my hand to my chest, where it quickly became red. For some reason, it didn't hurt though. It had just been that one little bit when it first hit me. I realised that I was about to die. But I hadn't finished my mission yet.

"S-S-S-Shadow," I said shakily.

He stopped his wild banging and looked at me tearfully. "Maria, I'm so sorry," He whispered.

"Don't be," I told him with a small smile. "I did it for you. Now listen carefully, because I don't know how much longer I have here. I need you to promise me something."

Shadow nodded. "Of course, anything!"

"Please, promise me, for all the people on that lovely planet. Give them a chance to be happy, be friends with them, please Shadow."

He nodded again. "I promise."

I smiled and stumbled to the eject lever.

"I love you," I whispered.

"Love you too," Shadow said, giving me a small, tearful smile.

"sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog."


	11. Chapter 11: Easter Flower

**Lusay: **Hi everyone! I'm back! (woot!) Anyway, let's continue the story, shall we? But first, I want to ask my friend Maria something here.

**Maria: **Um...ok?

**Lusay: **What was your reaction to your terrifying flashback?

**Maria: **Can't you just start the chapter and find out yourself?

**Lusay: **Yeeeees. But I want you to tell me.

**Maria: **Well, ok. If I had to describe the feeling in one word, I'd say it was a shock. It wasn't exactly the first memory I thought I'd get.

**Lusay: **I guess I can understand that.

**Maria: **But I also feel really overwhelmed. I mean, now I know that Ivo- or should I say Eggman- was lying to me the entire time and that I was completely wrong about Shadow...now I guess the best thing to do is talk to him about it, but I'm totally lost for words.

**Lusay: **Hmmm. Sounds like a handful. Anyway, let's continue the story! The viewers are waiting!

_Chapter eleven: Easter Flower_

Maria's P.O.V.

"And that, Maria, is how it's done!"

I snapped out of my cloud of thought and took my eyes off the street to look at Sonic.

"What? Oh. You guys did great," I said weakly.

They were finished already?

Amy cocked her head to one side. "Maria? Are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah. You don't look so hot," Rouge said with a surprising touch of concern in her voice.

"Did something happen while we were gone?" Silver asked.

Shadow stared at me, seeming to wonder the same thing.

I forced a smile and laughed lightly. "Oh, you guys worry over nothing!" I said, trying to brush it away. "I'm just fine!"

The truth was, I was feeling kinda queasy and light-headed. Not to mention the really big pain in my chest.

"Are you sure?" Blaze pressed. "Because you're holding your chest like you're in pain."

I quickly took my hand off my heart and tried to think of a good excuse.

"Oh I'm fine! I just...uh...need some water. Be right back!"

I ran down the street and around the corner before anyone had a chance to follow me.

I skidded to a halt and grabbed the Chaos Emerald out of my backpack. I had to get out of there and get some peace until I've figured everything out. And I knew exactly where I had to go.

"Chaos...Control!"

I opened my eyes, overlooking the planet earth. I was on the Space Colony ARK. The observation deck to be more precise.

I sighed. "Earth looks so beautiful from up here," I said to myself. "Almost like a fairy tale."

Flashback

"Shadow? What do you think it's like on earth?" I asked him as we watched the pretty blue, green, and white planet. I had always wanted to know this. I did have tons of books on the ARK, but most of them sounded too good to be true. I wanted to know what Shadow thought of it all.

Shadow answered without turning to me.

"The Professor said that his life's work was dedicated to all those who live down there. He once told that the reason for his existence was making people happy through the power of science."

He looked so sad at that moment, I didn't know what was wrong.

"Shadow..."

"Maria..." Shadow sighed. "I just don't know anything anymore. I often wonder why I was created? What my purpose for being here. Maybe...if I go down there, I will find the answers. Maybe..."

I stared at him for a couple of seconds, trying to sort it out. Finally, I knelt down to his height and held both of his hand in mine.

"Shadow? Look at me for a minuet."

He turned, his magnificent red eyes melting into mine.

"You don't need to go all the way down to earth just to find out who you are," I told him softly. "Because I know."

"You do?" Shadow asked with disbelief.

I nodded. "Yeah. You're the one I met early one morning, about three years ago. July fifteen, at 3 A.M. You're the one I begged Grandfather to let me take care of. The one who loves to prove himself, and hates being underestimated. You're the one I taught to read, and who can't put a good book down any more than I can. You're the one who helps me with my math, and who can hardly dance, but tries his best anyway."

Shadow blushed lightly, as I continued.

"You're also the one who cares for me when I'm sick, who comforts me when I'm sad, who hugs me when I'm scared, and who laughs with me when I'm happy. You're the one I care about more than anything in the whole world. You're my best friend, Shadow," I said tapping his nose with my finger.

"And don't you ever forget it."

End of flashback

I wandered around the ARK, the whole time having similar flashbacks in other rooms. I remembered arguing with Grandfather about Shadow in his office, meeting Shadow in one of the labs, and teaching him to bake a cake in the kitchen.

With each memory, I had a bittersweet feeling inside me.

The last room I went to had to be my bedroom. I could tell by the bedspread color and the old, but comforting furniture. But the thing that bought my attention was the plush cat on the bed. It was yellow, with a blue ribbon around its neck. I sat down on the bed and put the stuffed animal on my lap, stroking its fur while I remembered...

Another flashback

It was early in the morning, but I wasn't bothered by ut at all.

I was too busy reading.

My bedroom door opened, and I glanced up briefly and smiled at Shadow, who had come in.

"Hi Shadow!" I said cheerfully.

He gave me a smile in return and peered over my shoulder.

"Hi. What are you reading?"

"Oh, it's this great biography about a Spanish explorer named Juan Ponce de León and his quest for the Fountain of Youth in the New World. According to legends, one sip of these waters were supposed to restore your youth and heath."

"Did he ever find it?" Shadow asked with sparked interest. "Because if it exists, why are we wasting our time here when we could cure you with that water?"

I laughed. "Well, I don't think so," I said. "But I haven't gotten to that part yet. Anyway, he reached land the day after Easter, and named the land _Pascua florida, _which in Spanish means Easter Flower. Sounds romantic, doesn't it?"

Shadow nodded. "And speaking of the day after Easter," he said mysteriously. "That's March 28, right? Isn't that today?"

I gasped. "It is! Cool! Happy Florida Day!" I giggled, while Shadow gave me a weird look.

"But Maria! There's something more important about today!"

"There is?" I asked.

"Yes!" Shadow laughed. "Happy Birthday!" He said, handing me the wrapped gift he had been hiding behind his back the whole time.

"Oh! I totally forgot!" I exclaimed. "Thank you so much Shadow!" I gave him a hug before opening the gift. This was the first birthday I would celebrate with Shadow, and I was curious to see what he had given me.

"Awwww!" I exclaimed, gingerly taking the soft yellow cat out of the box. "This is so sweet!"

Shadow blushed. "Yeah, well. You're always saying I look like a cat, so I thought I'd get you one for yourself."

I giggled and gave him another hug. "That was so cute of you!" I said happily. "I still think you look like a cat though."

"I'm not a cat!" Shadow protested for the millionth time.

I just laughed and hugged my new 'pet.'

"And I know exactly what I'll call her," I said with determination. "Florida. In honor of today!"

Shadow smiled.

End of flashback

"Florida," I murmured, still stroking her while tears formed in my eyes.

"A pretty name, huh?"

I jumped a bit, surprised by the voice. I turned around and saw Shadow looking at me.

"Shadow?!"

He nodded and sat down next to me.

I sighed. "Look. Shadow. I'm sorry. For everything. For forgetting. For believing Eggman. For yelling at you. For making you have to go through all this. I'm so sorry!" I said, sobbing.

Shadow reached over and pulled me close to him, while I cried harder.

"Maria, don't cry," he said in his soft voice. "It's not your fault at all."

"But I should've-"

"Shhhh," Shadow ordered quietly, stroking the back of my head. "It doesn't matter now. The important thing is that you're back."

I think I heard tears in his voice when he said this, but I didn't know for sure.

"I love you, Ria," he whispered.

I giggled a bit, remembering the nickname he had given me all those years ago.

"I love you too, Shady,"

At saying that, I pulled away a little looked into his moist ruby-red eyes, smiling through my tears.

Shadow smiled back and pulled me in again, this time kissing me.

**Lusay: **And they're finally back together(blissful sigh). I'm so happy now! Hope you all liked the chapter! Peace OUT!


	12. Chapter 12: Picture Perfect

**Lusay:** Hi all! Jeez. I bet you all are up to your throats in happiness now that Shadow and Maria are finally back together, right? Cuz I totally am! It's funny how the author can enjoy writing her story as much as the viewers love reading it. Anyway, enjoy!

_Chapter twelve: Picture Perfect_

Amy's P.O.V.

"Sonic! Sit down!" I ordered. He sighed and sat next to me on Tails' couch, but I knew he still hadn't relaxed.

"What if something's happened to her? She was my responsiblity. I shouldn't have let her run off."

"Since when do you care about responsiblity?" I asked with irritation.

Sonic shook his head. "If anything's happened to her, Shadow's gonna serve me on a golden platter."

"I'm sure she's fine," Tails said. "She just might be running late."

"It's been forty five minuets!" Sonic protested. "What if Egghead's got her locked up somewhere?"

"I doubt that," I said flatly. "Maria can take care of herself."

I had no idea why Sonic was so worried about it, but it was kinda getting on my nerves. I mean, Maria's really nice and all, but what was Sonic's problem?

"Do you want me to call her?" I asked.

Sonic glared at me. "You had her number this whole time? Yes! Call her, by all means!"

I rolled my eyes. "Ok!" I dialed her number on my cell phone and waited while it rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi Maria. This is Amy."

"Oh. Hi Amy."

"Listen, where are you? Sonic's pretty much having a heart attack over here."

Maria gasped. "Oh! I was supposed to go to Tails'! I am so sorry! I totally forgot! I'll be right over. And...why's Sonic so worried?"

I shrugged. "He said something about how mad Shadow would be if you were in trouble."

Maria laughed. "Ahhh. I see." I heard someone say something from the other end. "Ok, Amy. We'll be over in a second."

"Umm...ok? Bye."

I hung up and shook my head.

"What? What is it?"

"Jeez. Sonic relax! She said she'll be over right away."

"That's good," Tails nodded.

Sonic finally smiled and leaned back. "Yeah."

There was a knock from the door. Tails stood up. "I guess it's her." He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Oh. Hi Maria...and Shadow..."

Sonic froze.

I just stared at the two hedgehogs who came in with a shocked look on my face. Since when were Maria and Shadow...togeather?

"H-h-hey Shadow," Sonic said nervously. He must have thought that Shadow had rescued Maria from the jaws of death, and was now here to get back at Sonic for letting her out of his sight.

"What do you want Faker?" Shadow asked with disgust as he sat next to Maria.

Sonic relaxed at Shadow's usual greeting.

I waited for Maria to make eye contact with me before mouthing, "What happened?" A glance toward Shadow helped her get the clue.

She nodded and mouthed back, "I'll explain later."

"Ok! Everyone!" Tails cleared his throat. "I'm sure you all know why we're here, so I'll get right to the point. Maria, you know you were reawakened by Eggman, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I know that."

"Eggman?!" Sonic and I exclaimed at the same time.

She nodded again. "Yeah. He's my cousin."

"Cousin?!" Sonic and I once again chorused.

Shadow nodded, looking at us like we had sprouted horns or something. "Duh!"

Tails continued. "And you do know that you have some of Shadow's DNA, right?""

Maria nodded again.

"Really?" Shadow asked. "That makes sence."

"What makes sence?" I asked with confusion.

"That Maria is a hedgehog, and has some of my own Chaos Abilities."

"She does?" I asked. I felt like an idiot, repeating everything they said, but I had a lot to catch up on.

"Doesn't that make her related to you then?" Sonic pointed out.

"No!" Shadow shouted. "Just because we have the same blood doesn't make one difference! It's just like my situation with Black Doom! He just gave some blood! I'm not his son! And Maria and I are not related! So just mind your own business!"

"Calm down, Shadow," Maria told the fuming hedgehog, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Sonic agreed. "Jeez Shadow! I was just asking a question."

Shadow calmed down and Tails resumed his talk.

"But she is more like you than that. You see, because of your blood, Maria is also an immortal. And she also has a bit of your personality."

"Oh really?" I asked in mock innocence. "I would never have guessed."

Shadow smirked. "Yeah. I think we already got a taste of that."

"Hey!" Maria exclaimed, slugging him in the arm.

Sonic grinned. "Point made."

Tails laughed. "Oh, and there's one more thing."

"What's that?" Maria asked.

"You're also gonna need inhibitor rings to keep in your energy, as well as your power."

Shadow nodded and took off one of his rings.

"Ahhhh!" Sonic shrieked and jumped off the couch. "What are you doing?!"

Shadow rolled his eyes. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He handing the ring to Tails and the fox walked into the workshop.

"Ok," I said. "What on earth just happened?"

The other hedgehogs just stared at me.

"You know," I said. "Why are you two together all of a sudden?"

"Yeah," Sonic said slowly. "I was wondering the same thing. I didn't know Shadow was so good with girls."

"Shut up," Shadow growled.

"Calm down!" Maria said shaking her head. "We don't need to blow up Tails' house here."

"I thought you'd be joining in," I teased.

Maria pretended to look upset. "Oh please! Just because I have his blood, doesn't mean I have to act like it," she said poking Shadow's ribs.

Shadow grabbed her arm. "But you know you want to," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah right!" Maria laughed.

"Ooooh! Are we gonna see some love?" Sonic asked with a grin. "I've always wanted to know Shadow's pick up line."

Shadow used his free hand to punch Sonic in the gut.

"Ow!" Sonic yelped.

"Are you ok?" I asked him quickly, rocketing to his side.

Sonic smiled. "I'm fine Ames. But I still wanna see Shadow's romantic side!"

Shadow glared at him. "No thanks."

Sonic elbowed me. "Watch this," he whispered. Then, in a louder voice, he said, "I guess Shadow just isn't as romantic as me!"

Maria and I looked at each other in bewilderment. This wasn't gonna turn out well. Those two fought at everything!

Shadow growled. "Oh yeah? Just watch this, Faker!"

With that, he grabbed Maria's other arm and kissed her.

Sonic grabbed my phone and snapped a picture.

"Thanks Shad! This is great for Facebook!"

Shadow immediately stopped kissing Maria and spun around with a red face.

"If you even think about it!"

Sonic just laughed evilly and posted it, shoving the phone in his rival's face.

"Woops! Sorry Shadster! Guess the whole world will have to see this! But look on the bright side! I _only _have more than a million friends."

You could pretty much see the steam blowing out of Shadow's ears.

"YOU ARE SO DEAD FAKER!"

Sonic laughed and tossed me the phone.

"Sorry! Can't stick around! Gotta keep moving on!" He ran out the door, with Shadow at his heels.

**Lusay: **Hope you all got a laugh out of that. But I just _had _to do something crazy with Sonic and Shadow's rivalry. I think most of us know that Sonic isn't really _that _romantic, even if he and Amy are dating. So Shadow was just being stupid and blind not to see that coming. You gotta love those two! Even if they fight about anything and everything! Anyways in the words of Sonic, 'can't stick around, gotta keep moving on!' See you all later! Peace out!


	13. Chapter 13: Roller Coaster Terror

**Lusay: **Hi guys. Here's the next chapter. Sorry, I don't have a lot to say right now.

_Chapter thirteen: Roller Coaster Terror_

Shadow's P.O.V.

"Shadow? Wake up!"

I groaned and rolled over. "Go away!" I mumbled.

"I'm not leaving until you get up," Maria said with determination.

"Well, you'll be here for a while," I grumbled.

She didn't answer, so I assumed she had left. But just when I was about to fall asleep, I was attacked in the ribs.

"Aha!" Maria said, tickling my sides.

"No! Stop!" I protested, unable to control my laughter. "Ok! I'm up! I'm up!" I yelled, siting up. "Man, you're persistent."

She laughed. "Don't you know it." She was already dressed in black jeans, a dark blue tank top.

"How long how you been up?" I asked, stretching.

"Long enough to know you sleep a long time," she shook her head. "Oh. And your friend Frost called."

"Oh really?" I asked. "Did you talk to him?"

Maria nodded. "Yeah. I didn't want to wake you. He invited us to go to some place called Twinkle Park with him and Orca."

I had heard about Twinkle Park. It was some amusement park for couples. The thing was, I'd never been on a roller coaster, and I didn't want to start today. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him I'd talk to you about it. Sounds like fun though."

I nodded. "Yeah. Tons of fun." Frost, I'm going to kill you.

Later...

"Hey! Bro, long time no see!" Frost said, giving me a hug.

I punched his stomach.

"Ow! What the heck was that for?!"

"You know I don't like roller coasters," I said in a low voice, so the girls couldn't hear.

Frost gave me an evil smile. "Yeah, but I'm sure Maria will enjoy it. Besides, how do you know you don't like something unless you try it?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but the girls walked up to us.

"What are we waiting for?" Orca asked. "Let's get going!"

Frost nodded and slipped his arm around his girlfriend's waist, giving me a devilish grin from behind her back. Frost is pure evil. He's like Sonic, only worst. Always doing something to get on your nerves.

"Hey! Come on or they'll leave without us!" Maria said, taking my hand.

I followed her, although I thought being left behind wasn't a bad idea at all.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Frost asked, once we got in.

"We should start with the rides, then eat, and do water related activities at the end," Orca said. Unlike Frost, Orca was actually an organized person, which was a bad thing when she decided to help her boyfriend in his schemes.

"Sounds great," Maria nodded.

"Then it's settled," Orca said. "Come on! My favorite roller coaster is this way." Yep. She's in on it too.

"I've never been on a roller coaster," Maria said hesitantly. "Are they fun?"

Frost smiled, and looked directly at me. "Absolutely."

The three led me to the death trap. I really didn't want to go through with this, but at least Maria was there.

We got our seats, which were close to the fount. Then the elderly attendant came and made sure we were all buckled in.

"Uh...is this thing safe?" I asked.

"Snakes?" He asked. "Sorry. Gotta get those at the pet store."

"Safe! Is it safe?!" I asked loudly.

"Oh! Safe! Why of course it is, sonny. I've run this baby for fifteen years and not once have we had any problem with it. Now hears some advice if you're not a coaster man. Hold on to the rail, keep you seatbelt on, and don't look down, even when it looks up."

"What does that mean?!" I asked, nervous by the old man's riddle. But unfortunately, he didn't hear me, and just continued checking belts.

Maria scooted closer to me and patted my cold clammy hand. "Hey. You ok?" She asked softly.

"I will be, when this is over," I said.

She smiled. "I'm sure you'll do fine," she said, kissing my cheek gently.

Her voice and touch worked like a charm. My body immediately calmed down. I smiled. "Thanks Ria."

Just then, the coaster started, and I nearly jumped out. So much for staying calm.

Frost turned around in his seat in fount of us and smirked. "Have fun Shadow!" He said, laughing insanity.

I glared at him.

Just then, the roller coaster flew down this hill. I screamed and clutched the rail for dear life. Maria laughed.

"Oh my gosh! This is fun, isn't it?!"

"GET ME OFF THIS THING!" I yelled desperately.

The beastly thing kept on its crazy course, and now I understand what the old man ment.

Suddenly, a blast hit the track not too far away from the speeding roller coaster. Eggman.

I quickly took off the seatbelt, Frost did too.

"Frost, stop the coaster, I'll take care of the Doctor!" I ordered quickly, jumping off the side.

Frost nodded, jumped off the coaster, and used his winter abilities to freeze the huge thing before it fell.

I landed on the ground and quickly found the Doctor.

"Eggman! What are you doing?!" I demanded.

"Nothing," he said innocently. "Just thought I'd drop by and say hel- ooof!"

Just then, a very familiar hammer smacked down on the Doctor's head.

"DON'T YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T BE HERE WITHOUT A DATE?!" Amy yelled.

I took the opening, and kicked the EggMobile as hard as I could, and he was gone.

"Nice work Amy!" Sonic praised, pushing his way past the large crowd of people looking at the roller coaster dangling above them.

A few minuets later, everyone was evacuated from it.

"Are you ok?" I asked Maria worriedly.

She nodded. "I can't believe he would just come here and try to kill all these people."

Frost shook his head. "Yeah. That Egghead's nuts."

"Well, at least everyone's safe," Orca said.

Sonic nodded. "Yeah. That was tight!"

I sighed.

"Anyone up for some ice cream?" Frost asked, trying to get our minds off the incident. It worked.

**Lusay: **Gosh. This was a short chapter. Sorry, but I couldn't add anything else here. Anyway, so long! Peace out!


	14. Chapter 14: I can't lose you

**Lusay: **Hey wassup?! Ready for the next chapter? Well here it is!

_Chapter fourteen: I can't Loose you_

Maria's P.O.V.

"Uh? What the?" I groaned and opened my eyes, sitting up in bed and looking around. My room was still perfectly clean, and no sign of anything that could've awaken me.

I shook me head and flopped back into the pillows. It must have been my imagination.

_Clunk!_

I jumped out of bed and spun around. I had heard something.

_Clunk!_

This time, I was able to spot a small pebble as it bounced off the glass door to my balcony. I cautiously crossed the space to the door and opened it, almost getting hit by another flying rock.

"Hey!" I yelled as loud as I dared, leaning over the railing. "What's the big idea?"

Sonic waved to me from the ground. "Hey!"

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. "And what are you doing? Trying to break my window?"

I could see Sonic's grin even from two stories high. "Sorry," he said smugly. "Did I wake you?"

"Yes!" I said with exasperation. "And you're lucky you didn't wake Shadow. I don't think he'd be very happy to see you."

Sonic shrugged. "He never is." He looked around before saying, "hey, so I was wondering if you wanna go out for a run with me? It can get kinda lonely when you're the only one your speed, besides Shadow, who tries to kill me when I ask."

I smirked. That didn't surprise me at all.

"But we could have some fun too," Sonic suggested. "Ya know, like I could show you around and tell you about some of the places the gangs and I have been."

"Ok sounds good," I said. "But give me a minuet, ok? I've gotta get dressed."

Sonic nodded. "Sure."

I went back inside and quickly changed into something more running appropriate. After brushing my quills down, I ran down stairs, scratched a short note for Shadow, so he won't have a heart attack when he finds me missing, and went outside, where Sonic was waiting.

"Alright," I said, punching him in the arm. "Let's get moving."

Sonic smirked. "You're sounding like Shadow more and more everyday. Try to keep up, Ok?"

He zoomed down the street without any hesitation. I quickly followed him.

"Hey! Glad you could make it!" He joked as I fell into steep with him.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever! So tell me, Professor, what's so cool about this city?"

Sonic grinned. "Westropolis. It's mainly a military city. Ya know, G.U.N. HQ, and stuff like that. Diddya know that this whole city had to be rebuilt not so long ago?"

"Really?" I asked. "What could've been so big that it destroyed a whole city?"

"The Black Arms," Sonic said, carefully searching my face. "Ever heard of 'em?"

"Can't say that I have," I said, trying to focus on my speed. "Who were they?"

"Oh, just an alien race. Their leader, Black Doom, was the guy who gave your grandfather the blood needed to create Shadow."

"Black Doom?" I asked. "So that's the guy Shadow was talking about before."

Sonic nodded. "Yep. Anyway, if it wasn't for Shadow, they would've destroyed a lot more. Anyway, this here is Speed Highway," he said, motioning to the highway we had been on for a couple of seconds. "This place brings back a lot of memories."

That's how it went basically. We would zoom through an area, while Sonic gave me some information about it. I kinda wished we would slow down and take a closer look at things, but I don't think Sonic would've agreed to it.

"And this here is one of my favorite cities," Sonic said as we entered.

"It's cool! What's it called?" I asked.

Sonic shrugged. "I actually don't know," he said sheepishly. "But we call it City Escape, cuz the first time I came here, I was being chased by G.U.N., killer trucks, helicopters, robots, the works!"

"Why?" I asked. "Steal from the chilli dog stand?"

"Funny," Sonic grinned. "But no. I didn't do anything. It was just a matter of people being colorblind, and not knowing the difference between a blue and a black hedgehog."

"Shadow?" I asked.

Sonic nodded.

"But why would they want Shadow?" I asked.

Sonic smiled. "Maybe you should ask him. Anyway, I met Shadow in this city too."

"Here?" I asked.

"Follow me! I'll show you the place."

I followed the speeding hedgehog as he ran down Main street, finally pulling into an alley.

"Let's see," Sonic said, stopping for the first time since we started. "He showed up right there," he pointed to a spot.

And just like that, a very angry-looking Shadow appeared.

Shadow's P.O.V.

_Hi Shady, _

_Going for a short run with Sonic. I'll be back soon._

_Love you!_

_Maria_

I reread the note for the fifteenth time before shaking my head. Sonic took my Maria for a run?! This was great! Sonic is the most careless person I know! There is no way Maria could be safe.

I ran out the door, trying to figure out where they could've gone. Even now I could see that pathetic faker blindly leading my girlfriend in fount of a speeding car or something. I shivered at the thought.

"Shadow? What is going on? You look rather upset."

I glanced up, realising that I was about to crash into Omega.

"Omega? Have you seen Sonic and Maria around?" I asked almost desperately.

"Affirmative. They passed by about fifteen minuets ago. Are you searching for them?" Omega asked.

I nodded. "Which way did they go?"

"Toward Speed Highway."

"Thanks," I said gratefully. I started skating off in that direction.

"Shadow! Wait!" Omega said suddenly.

I stopped. "Yeah?" I asked shortly.

Omega handed me his white Chaos Emerald. "You seem to be in need of this."

I took it. "Thank you, Omega. Do you know where they might be now?"

Omega shrugged. "Try the city Sonic calls 'City Escape'. They might be there."

I nodded my thanks and Chaos Controlled there as fast as I could. It was a lucky guess, because the first thing I saw was Sonic pointing at me for some strange reason.

"Whoa!" Sonic said quickly. "I was not expecting that."

I answered by punching him in the face.

"Ow! I wasn't expecting that either!" he said, rubbing his check. "What was that for?"

"Where's Maria?" I demanded.

"I'm right here," she said, steeping in between Sonic and I. "What's going on?"

I dropped my gaze. "I- uh- just needed to make sure you were ok." I said softly. "Faker isn't exactly known for being safe."

"Hey!" Sonic protested.

Maria ignored him. "But we were just taking a run through the area," she said. "I mean, we weren't going sky diving, or bungee jumping. Can you not trust me or something?"

I jumped a bit, taken aback by her question. "Of course I do!" I said. "I...I just don't want to loose you again," I said in a near whisper. "Maria, I love you. Loosing you the first time was like loosing the guiding light of the moon at night, like having my heart ripped out of my chest." I was starting to sound really stupid and poetic, but I didn't care. "And now that your back, I know I need to protect you at all costs. I just can't loose you again." The lump I had been fighting in my throat finally won, and a tear slipped down my cheek. And with Sonic standing right there! I was never going to hear the end of this!

"Shadow..." Maria said, softly kissing me. "That was the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me. Thank you."

I gave her a weak smile.

"Awww!" Sonic said, tearing up. "You two are so cute! It's just like a scene right out of one of those snappy drama shows Amy makes me watch."

"Shut up," I grumbled.

Sonic chuckled.

"Sonic!"

We all turned to see Amy practically limping toward us.

"Amy! Are you ok?" Sonic asked with concern, rushing to her side.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" the pink hedgehog panted.

"Amy! Are you hurt?" Sonic asked again.

She smiled. "No. Just tired." Her eyes strayed to Maria and I, still in each other's arms. "Did I miss something?"

Sonic chuckled. "Just Shadow and Maria playing Romeo and Juliette. It's got that much drama."

"Shut up!" I growled with a red face.

Amy laughed. "Oh! Don't be shy Shadow! You two are really cute!"

Maria smiled. "Thanks Amy."

Sonic started to breakdance randomly to absolutely no music. Show off. "Why don't we go to that new coffee shop here?" he asked, spinning around on his head. "I hear it's really good."

"Like you need caffeine," I said, rolling my eyes.

Sonic stopped dancing and made a face. "No I don't. I just want it."

"Why don't we go?" Amy asked us.

"Sure, why not?" Maria asked, looking at me.

I finally shrugged. "Fine."

"Then let's go!" Amy said. She turned around and almost fell.

"Amy! Be careful!" Sonic said, catching her in his arms.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

We got to the shop and ordered our drinks, then sat around, sipping and talking.

"The girls and I are going to the mall in Central City this afternoon," Amy said. "Wanna go Maria? After all, you are one of us now."

Maria looked at me curiously. "Well..."

Sonic elbowed me, "You should let her," he whispered. "I know you're worried about her, but remember that she's an immortal now. And she has her Chaos Abilities. She'll be fine."

Sonic was right. I couldn't just lock her up forever. I took a deep breath and nodded. "Sounds like a fun, girlish activity."

Maria smiled and leaned against me. "Yeah. What time are you girls going?"

Amy smiled "Is two a good time?"

I nodded.

Sonic laughed. "And don't worry! We'll keep Shadow busy so he doesn't change his mind and go blasting through the mall."

I glared at him. His time of playing counselor had only lasted a second.


	15. Chapter 15: The Real Deal

**Lusay: **Hey everyone! Today, I just wanna say thanks to everyone supporting my story. It really means a lot to me! And also wanna say a big happy b-day to one of my little bros! His big day is tomorrow! They grow up so fast! Anyway, here's the chapter!

_Chapter fifteen: The Real Deal_

Bokkun's P.O.V.

I still can't believe Shadow and Rouge destroyed Dr. Eggman's base! Actually, I can believe it. Those two are rotten! They made Dr. Eggman run for his life, with only me, Decoe, Bocoe, and a few other smaller robots. But at least he still had his top-secret base! I'd tell you where it is, but then it wouldn't be a secret would it? Teehee!

But I don't know why Dr. Eggman hasn't thrown a big fit about his losses. I mean, he let Maria go wherever, his base is destroyed, and he's not upset! This is really weird.

I would've asked him about it, but you see, I've kinda been too busy daydreaming about a really cute girl named Cream. She's really nice, and I kinda have a crush on her. But you better not tell anyone, ok?

"Bokkun!" Dr. Eggman yelled.

"Yes Dr. Eggman?" I asked.

"I want you to get me my sub! I'm hungry!"

I nodded. "Of course! I'll get it!"

I flew off into the kitchen to retrieve his sub. Eggman had this thing with turkey subs from Subway. He can't get enough of them! I feel bad for the lady who works there. Eggman is kinda picky, and he'll send me back if so much as the lettuce is on wrong! But I think she's been getting better at it, because he's not complaining as much, and he makes me buy more at one time, so he can have them on hand.

I brought the sub back to Eggman, and he stopped his work to eat it.

"Um...Dr. Eggman? Why haven't you gotten mad yet?"

He looked at me with a funny face. "Well, because this was all a part of my master plan!"

I cocked my head to one side. "Huh?"

Eggman leaned back in his seat. "You see, I of course knew that sooner or later, Maria would wonder why I wouldn't let her out. So I decided to do so myself. Of course she would've ended up meeting Sonic and the others, and eventually getting her memory back. I knew all this would happen, so I made the plan more complicated. A lot more complicated."

I stayed quite, hoping he would explain a little. He did.

"I know she's with Shadow," he continued thoughtfully. "And when the time is right, I'll take her and keep her hostage! What wouldn't Shadow do in order to get his precious love back?"

"Well, I know he would hesitate to blow up _this _base," I said, amazingly sounding smart for once.

Eggman made a face. "You don't understand, I _want _him to get that upset."

"What?! Dr. Eggman?! Do you wanna get us killed?!" I knew how dangerous Shadow could be, especially when he was mad.

Eggman chuckled. "You'll see what I mean later, but Shadow and Maria will soon be in my clutches! I can assure you that! Oh, hohohohoho!"

Maria's P.O.V.

"Are you sure, Shadow?" I teased. "Three hours is a long time to wait you know."

Shadow half-opened one of his eyes to look at me. "I'm sure," he grunted, closing his eye, continuing to sit back with his arms crossed.

"Well, the guys should be here soon to give you company," I said, giving him a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Woopie," came the sarcastic reply.

I just smiled. "But you're still planing to take me out for dinner when I get back, right?"

Shadow's eyes popped oped. "Of course," he said, smiling a bit. "Why would I change my mind?"

"Just making sure," I said. Just then, someone knocked at the door.

"The party's here! Open up!" Sonic called from outside.

Shadow rolled his eyes from the couch. I walked over to the door and let Sonic, Silver, Frost, and Knuckles inside.

"Hey guys!" I said cheerfully.

"Hi Maria!" Sonic said, giving me a small hug. "Shadow! Just the guy I was looking for!"

Shadow wasn't prepared for Sonic tackling him.

"Ow! Get off me!" He growled.

Silver looked a little worried. "Ah...Sonic, I thought we were here as Shadow's guests? Why are you attacking him?"

Sonic laughed and jumped to his feet. "Just practicing, in case we have to do that for real in order to keep him from exploding the mall in a frantic search for Maria."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Great!" He said sarcastically. "We get to do some police work! I'm so excited!"

Forst smiled. "Don't worry! I borrowed Rouge's stun guns, in case we need to use them."

Shadow looked worried. "She let you borrow her stun guns?!"

Silver shook his head. "Do you even know how to use them?"

Forst's grin disappeared. "Uh...about that..."

Sonic smiled. "Easy! I'll show you!" he snatched one of them away. "Let me show ya! All you do is pull the trigger here, and-" He accidentally fired, shooting Knuckles in the arm. The echidna fell over in a daze.

"Woops!"

"Sonic!" Shadow shouted.

"Oh my goodness!" I gasped.

Frost and Silver looked at the sleeping Knuckles in shock.

Sonic tossed the gun back to Frost, who caught it hesitantly. "Um...and that's how it works!" He said, trying to avoid the cold stare from Shadow.

Just then, there was a knock from outside. It was the girls thankfully.

I gave Shadow a kiss and waved to the other guys. "Bye guys! Have fun!" I said.

"Awwww! I don't get a kiss too?" Sonic asked, pretending to be disappointed.

"Kiss her and I'll give you one too...with my fist," Shadow muttered.

Sonic looked nervous.

Silver took a step back.

"Hey Silver?" I called. "Try to stay alive. You're the only one here who doesn't have serious issues."

He smiled.

I walked outside and waved to the girls, who here in Rouge's white Porsche

"Hey!" She, Amy, and Blaze called from inside.

"Hey!" I said enthusiastically, sliding in the back next to Blaze. "You guys came at the perfect time! Don't be surprised if we come back to a pile of bricks."

"That bad, huh?" Rouge asked with a chuckle, pushing the gas petal.

"_That bad?!" _I repeated. "That's a understatment big time!"

Amy looked back at the house nervously. "I hope Sonic will be ok."

I laughed. "Sonic's fine. He already stunned Knuckles."

Blaze chuckled. "Sounds like Shadow's got his hand full."

"Which is good," Rouge said. "The busier he is, the less time he has to worry over Maria."

Amy nodded. "Why don't we listen to some music?" She suggested, putting in a CD.

"Which one is that?" Rouge asked.

"Sonic DX soundtrack," Amy said enthusiastically, fiddling with a few buttons until a song came on. "This is my theme song," she told me. "It's called My Sweet Passion."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "You mean, My Overobsession!"

I smiled, wondering how Shadow was doing. I should worry. I'm sure it's fine.

Silver's P.O.V.

It's not fine here! This is a mess! What did Sonic pull me into now?

currently, Knuckles is still out of it, Frost is raiding the freezer, and Sonic and Shadow are arguing for the third time in ten minuets!

"Frost! What are you doing?!" I demanded, watching him eat Shadow's whole stock of ice cream. "Do you know how ticked off Shadow will be when he finds you?!"

Frost shrugged. "Whatever! Once I get my sugar rush/brain freeze going, he'll have a lot more to deal with then just arguing with Sonic over what video game to play!"

I sighed, knowing I was getting nowhere with him. So I walked out in the living room to come face to face with World War 3!

"Let's play Sonic Free Riders!" Sonic suggested loudly. "It's totally multiplayer, and almost all of us can play as ourselves!"

"No!" Shadow shouted. "We are going to play Sonic and the Black Knight! It has our characters too! And I won't have to deal with me being a compleat retard like I am in that game!"

Sonic planted his hands on his hips tauntingly. "You're just saying that, cuz you don't wanna deal with your new voice actor, or the fact that you're in it for the money, even though you're a G.U.N. Agent who makes a tons of rings! It was just an excuse to flirt with Rouge, wasn't it? Or are you supporting the power of teamwork now?"

I groaned, seeing Shadow was looking a little red. No really! He was glowing red!

"Stop it!" I commanded, stepping in between them. "Do you two seriously have to fight about what game we play? Really?"

"YES!" Both hedgehogs roared. I actually didn't know hedgehogs could roar until today.

"No you don't!" I said, trying to stay calm. "Can't we just take turns? Or vote? Or do _something _civil? Gosh. If our girlfriends were here, do you know how embarrassed they'd be? I bet we'd all get dumped!"

Sonic and Shadow finally seamed to get what I was saying.

But then of course, Frost had to come in, high on sugar.

"GUYS! WE TOTALLY NEED TO GO SKIING!"

We stared at him like he was nuts, because he was.

"Dude. You do know we are in the middle of June, right?" Sonic asked.

"YEAH! PERFECT SKIING WEATHER!"

Shadow picked up a stun gun and shot the crazy hedgehog, who now joined Knuckles in dreamland.

I shook my head. This is going to be a long afternoon.

**Lusay: **The end of the chapter! I feel bad for Silver! He's the only sane person there! LOL! Anyway, see you all later, and peace out!


	16. Chapter 16: Undercover Shopping

**Lusay: **Hi! Here's another chapter! Hope you all enjoy it! I will warn you, this chapter is crazy. And by crazy, I mean CRAZY! Not like the other "crazy" chapters. Heheh!

_Chapter sixteen: Undercover Shopping_

Shadow's P.O.V.

"This is boring!" Sonic said loudly. "How can you watch two hours worth of this sci-fi junk!"

Silver shrugged, not at all phased by Sonic's complaining. "Well, you two couldn't decide what game to play, and Frost and Knuckles were sleeping at the time, so why not?"

"We woke up almost an hour ago!" Knuckles said flatly.

Frost nodded. "Yeah. Why do we have to watch you boring documentary?"

"It's not a documentary," Silver said, rolling his eyes. "But fine. Do you have any better ideas?"

I nodded. "Why don't we go to Game Stop?" I suggested. "I heard a new Sonic Game came out."

Sonic nodded eagerly. "Yep! Midnight release! I was the first one there, and I got a free one!"

Knuckles grinned. "Well, anything will beat Silver's boring movie selection."

Frost nodded his agreement.

"Fine!" Silver said, cranky. "I wanna see if I made it for another game anyway."

I smirked. These idiots were defiantly falling for it.

"Wait half a second!" Sonic shouted, glaring at me.

"What?" I asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Game Stop is in the freaking mall!" Sonic yelled. "You just wanna go spy on Maria, you perv!"

"I do not!" I shouted back.

"Then why are you suddenly so interested in _shopping _for _my _games in the _same _mall that your _girlfriend_ is conveniently shopping at?!" Sonic screamed.

I paused. I didn't really have an answer to that.

Knuckles shook his head. "Come on. We are not going to the mall, so let's all just sit back and watch Silver's boring crap."

Frost sighed dramatically. "Awww! But I was looking foreward to going shopping!"

"So was I," Silver said. "You guys are getting on my nerves."

"But we can't!" Sonic protested. "We promised the girls!"

"You know," Knuckles said thoughtfully. "Game Stop isn't on the same side of the mall as all those girly stores. I know because Rouge drags me there all the time."

I nodded. "So we won't even see them. I need to get out of here anyway."

Sonic thought for a second. "So do I. But what if one of them sees us? We're dead."

I smirked. "Did you forget that I am a G.U.N. Agent? We're going undercover."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "I told you! You do wanna spy on her!"

I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, you've gotta ignore the faker.

(About fifteen minuets later)

"I look like an idiot," Sonic said, fiddling with his shirt.

"And so do I," I said. "But how bad do you wanna get out of here?"

We were all dressed like girls actually. Everyone had to brush down their quills and put on some makeup.

"How often do you have to switch genders?" Silver asked. "Because if it's often, I fear for you and Maria."

Sonic was wearing a blue shirt with skinny jeans.

Knuckles actually braided his quills, and he was wearing a green top with a yellow mini skirt.

Frost wore a pink dress that went down to his knees, and also a huge frown to show how much he hated this.

Silver wore a light blue shirt and black leggings.

And I wore a tight red top, black skinny jeans, and a girlish leather jacket.

"I think we're ready," I said with satisfaction.

"Are you kidding me?!" Frost yelled. "There is no way I'm going out like this!"

Knuckles shook his head. "This is pretty retarded Shadow."

I smirked. "Well, do you wanna stay here for another hour?"

"NO!" All four guys shouted.

I nodded. "Then this is what we're gonna do."

Sonic sighed. "Fine. But we better come up with code names. I mean, if someone asks my name what am I gonna say? 'I'm Sonic the hedgehog! I'm dressed like a girl because my deranged friend here forced me into this so we could go to Game Stop and spy on our girlfriends?'"

"We are not spying," I corrected. "we are simply getting some fresh air."

"That's interesting! Because I can hardly breathe here!"

"So what are our fake girly names?" Frost asked.

I nodded. "Sonic, you'll be Sonia."

"That's my sister's name!"

"Do I care?" I asked. "Anyway, Knuckles, you can be Knix. Silver, your name is Sidney. Frost, you can be Frostina. Close enough to your real names?"

The others nodded. "and what is your girl name?" Knuckles asked.

"Shade," I said. "Now let's get moving."

Sonic groaned. "Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?"

(About ten minuets later...at the mall)

"Stop walking like that!" I hissed.

"Like what?" Silver whispered back.

"Like a boy, you idiot!"

"But I am a boy!" Silver complained in a low voice. "That's something I don't wanna forget you know."

"And stop talking like that to," I said, struggling to keep me own voice higher.

"I can't walk in these shoes!" Knuckles groaned.

"Be happy you're not wearing boots like I am," I said.

"Who's stupid idea was this?" Sonic demanded. "Mine? Nope! My stupid ideas are way better. Frost's? No! He wouldn't stoop this low. Who drugged you, Shadow?!"

"It's Shade," I corrected. "And no one did. What's so bad about going to shop for games? Especially Sonic games? He's amazing!"

Sonic's eyes narrowed. "You are on drugs. Can't wait to tell Maria."

"Shut up!" I growled. "Do you think this is easy for me? I did this just to keep you annoying punks out of my hair!"

"Oh look!" Frost exclaimed in an awful girl voice. "There's Game Stop!"

We quickly pulled into the store, which was almost empty, thank goodness.

"I don't know how much more I can take," Knuckles groaned, nearly tripping over his heels. "How can girls stand this?"

"Beats me," I shrugged.

Sonic glared at me. "Shadow, I'm so gonna kill you when we get done here!"

I took a step back. Usually, I was the one making threats. Sonic must be really mad.

"Can I help you?" The guy behind the counter asked, eyeing Sonic.

"Yeah!" Silver said quickly. "Do you have any Sonic games out? We are like...total fans!"

Knuckles slapped his forehead.

"Um...excuse my little sister, Sidney," Sonic said. "She's a little over excited about Sonic."

"No I'm not!" Silver said in his regular voice.

I glared at him.

"I-I mean, I'm not," he corrected, using a higher pitched voice.

The dude behind the counter raised an eyebrow.

"And she has a cold, too!" Frost said. "That's why her voice is a little...uh...hoarse."

Silver smiled weakly.

"So," I said. "Do you have any games, or not? If we don't give Sidney her daily dous of Sonic, she'll throw a fit!"

"And you know what happens when fangirls get angry," Knuckles said seriously. "Especially this time of the month. Mood swings are the worst."

Silver blushed and slapped Knuckles' arm. "Knuckl- I mean Knix! You're not supposed to be blabbing that kind of stuff around!"

The guy cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Uh...sure! We've got some games! Right this way!"

We followed him to an ailse. "There you go," he said to Silver. He then turned to Sonic. "Good luck with your sister," he said with a wink.

"Holy chilli dogs!" Sonic exclaimed after he left. "Was he hitting on me?!"

"You do make a pretty hot girl!" Frost blurted, practically rolling on the ground with laughter.

Silver shook his head. "Why do you guys always make me play the idiot?" he asked.

"We don't," I chuckled. "You volunteer."

"Well, in any case," Knuckles said. "It's good to be able to walk around. Even if I can hardly do that."

Sonic nodded. "True. I really needed to stretch." He glared at me. "But if you ever suggest something like this again, I'm gonna kill you on the spot. Got it?"

I nodded.

"How often do you have to do this?" Silver asked. "Dress up like a girl, I mean."

I shrugged. "Not very often. But we all know our girl friends would recognize us from anywhere, so we needed to go extreme."

We finally got the games we wanted and left the store.

"Thank you, Mother Nature, that trip is over!" Frost said.

"It's not over yet," I said, keeping my eyes on a group of girls.

"Why not?" Sonic asked. "We got out of the store!"

"See anyone who looks familiar?"

Sonic's eyes scanned the crowds, then his face paled. "It's...them."

"What?!" Silver and Knuckles nearly shouted.

"I can't let them see me like this!" Sonic shouted. "Amy's gonna think I'm on drugs! Shadow! You are so dead."

"Calm down and act natural," I commanded.

We quickly turned to some benches and sat down, pulling out our cells phones.

"They passed us," Knuckles whispered.

Sonic was able to breathe again. "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh," he repeated.

Silver groaned. "Were you really that desperate to see her? You nerely got our hides chopped off!"

Just then I noticed, some gray fox walk up to the girls.

"You guys stay here," I said in a low tone. "I have to...uh...use the bathroom!" With that, I practically marched toward the restroom, which was conveniently located close to where the girls were.

"Oh! I see you're the rat Shadow picked up, huh?" The fox snarled at Maria.

"Uh...yeah I am," she said. "Who are you, and how do you know that?"

"Sandra," The fox said. "And I know because it's all over the flipping internet! Who do you think you are, anyway? His girlfriend?!"

"Actually, yes. I am," Maria said calmly.

Sandra's eyes narrowed. "Well, of course you are his little girly friend! But you see, he needs a woman, if you haven't noticed."

"And what are you?!" I snapped in fury, closing the distance between us in a few short strides.

Sandra gulped, noticing the fire burning in my eyes. "Uh...hahaha. Who are you?"

"None of you flipping business!" I growled. "But I will tell you that if you don't get your butt out of here, my fist will escort you out!"

She smiled nervously. "Oh! Um...I just remembered that I have to go meet my girlfriends somewhere just about now! Uh...see you!"

"Hmph." I said with satisfaction. I turned around to see Maria glaring at me.

**Lusay: **Now before you all get on my case, I will remind you. YOU WERE WARNED! Anyway, there was the chapter. I don't think it will get much worse than those five guys prancing around the mall dressed as girls! I read this to my brother and he was on the floor laughing. Anyway, peace out!


	17. Chapter 17: Emotional Speeches

**Lusay: **Hey guys! Welcome back! Just wanna say again, THANK YOU, ALL YOU AWESOME PEOPLE WHO ARE SUPPORTING MY STORY! I love you all!

_Chapter seventeen: Emotional Speeches_

Maria's P.O.V.

"What is going on?!" I shouted, shoving the disguised Shadow into the bathroom. Thankfully, it was empty, and I didn't waste any time locking the door behind us. "What is with...that?!"

Shadow rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Uh...I..."

"Where are the guys anyway?" I interrupted.

"By the fountain," he said quietly.

"Are they dressed like girls too?!" I asked.

Shadow didn't answer, but by the look on his face, my guess was I was right.

"WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" I screamed.

Shadow flinched slightly. "Maria...I..."

"DON'T 'MARIA' ME!" I thundered. I reached into my purse and found what I needed; makeup remover, a brush, and styling jel. "TAKE THIS AND MAKE YOURSELF LOOK PRESENTABLE!" I ordered, shoving the items in his face. "I'LL BE BACK!"

I spun on my heels and charged out of the bathroom. I was relieved to see that the girls were too busy ordering smoothies to notice me. I quickly found the other guys and marched up to them.

"Get up," I ordered in a low menacing voice that made them cower in fear.

They quickly followed me into the bathroom, where Shadow was, thankfully not in that ridiculous outfit. He turned and gave them a sorry expression, which the others returned with a scowl.

"I want you all to get out of that RIGHT THIS SECOND!" I ordered. "And I will be waiting for you in the hall."

I stormed out of the bathroom and waited, not-so-patiently for the guys to come out.

Shadow was the first to do so. "Uh...Maria?" he said quietly.

"YES?!" I snapped.

He looked down. "I...uh...I'm really sorry. I just..."

Just then the bathroom door opened again and the rest of the guys came out.

"Maria!" Sonic said, collapsing to his knees. "My humblest apologies! This was never supposed to happen!" He said, tearing up dramatically. "But you see, it's very hard keeping five guys in one house of three hours! Heh, it's even hard to do that with ONE guy for ten MINUETS! But you see, Shadow here was not in the right mind! We were driving him to insanity, and he missed you terribly! Which is why he shoved us into those stuffy clothes, and literally forced us here! But can you really blame him? I mean, he already lost you once, and we all know how over protective he is. Just look at him and his gun collection! I can't get within ten feet of it without him going ballistic! And we know how much more you mean to him than weapons! He can't live a flipping two hours without you! I bet he even sneaks into your room at night about four or five times, just to see if you're still breathing!"

I glanced at Shadow briefly, who blushed at shouted, "No I don't!"

"And so you see, Maria," Sonic continued with his speech. "You just can't tell the girls about this! You just can't! And don't be too mad at Shadow either, although I don't know how long you possibly could be mad at him! But you see, you just can't tell Amy and the other girls!" He actually started to break down! "I couldn't be able to take it if Amy broke up with me!" He sobbed. "I've pushed her back for so many years, but I love her! I really do! I can't lose her now! Not to Shadow's stupid, crazy, insane idea! I don't even know why I let him do it! I shouldn't have! I'm so sorry!"

I looked at him. "Well...Sonic...I..."

He cried harder. "I just don't know what I'd do without Amy! She means everything to me! Just like you mean everything to Shadow, Blaze means everything to Silver, Rouge means everything to Knuckles, and Orca means everything to Frost!"

The other guys nodded with great emotion.

I shook me head, overwhelmed by Sonic's heart-spoken plea. "Fine," I said softly. "I won't say anything."

Sonic's glistening green eyes looked at me hopefully. "Really?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. Now, I'm gonna go distract them, Ok? Then you guys get out of here and get back to the house. After they're done with their smoothies, we're gonna go too."

Sonic stood up and wrapped his arms around me. "Thank you so much!" He said. "You have no idea how awesome you are!"

I smiled a little and took a step back. "I gotta go guys," I said. "Now you better be home when we get there."

at their nods, I turned around and left.

…

Shadow's P.O.V.

"How did you do that?" I asked Sonic, who was wiping off his fake tears and laughing like a maniac.

He chuckled. "Years of experience, my friend!" He laughed. "When you have a girl hanging on you for years, you learn that they are very emotional! Playing with their emotions works just about every time!"

I was too impressed to tell him I was not his friend.

"Well, in any case," Knuckles shrugged. "You saved us a lot of explaining."

Sonic shook his head, still laughing insanely. "That was the most I've ever said at once!" he looked at me. "You own me, buddy!"

I sighed. "Fine. What do you want?"

Sonic put his finger to his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmmm...let's see...fifty chilli dogs should do it."

"Fifty chilli dogs?!" I repeated. "No way!"

"Remember the doo doo I just got us through," he shrugged.

I groaned. "Fine."

"Come on guys," Silver said. "The cost is clear. And at this point, I never wanna step into a mall again."

"Same here," Frost said, shivering a bit.

…

"Ok!" Everything's clean!" Silver said with satisfaction.

"Nothing ever happened!" Knuckles said.

"Great!" I shouted from the kitchen I was having a hard time making all these chilli dogs for Sonic, but he insisted that he wanted them homemade.

"Are you done yet?" He asked, dashing to my side again.

"Not any closer than I was fifteen seconds ago," I mumbled.

"Boy Shads! You're so slow! I could make them twenty times faster than you ever could!"

"Hey! I'm no chief here!" I growled. "And for the hundredth time, it's Shadow. Shad-ow!"

"Whatever you say, Shads," Sonic said, snarfing down the one I had just finished. "Pretty good. But remember, you've gotta make forty-nine more...before the girls get back!"

I groaned.

"Remember!" Sonic said. "It was I who stopped Maria from seriously hurting us! I deserve this!"

"Yeah, yeah," I said rolling my eyes.

I finally finished the chilli dogs about fifteen minuets later. Sonic was sitting lazily on the couch, trying to digest the large amount of food he stuffed himself with.

"They should be here any second now!" Frost said, checking his watch.

"I hope they won't come for a good five minuets," Silver said, bent over the game controller.

"Why do you even like that game?" Knuckles asked. "It's so glitchy and confusing."

"And I get kissed my a human!" Sonic spoke up. "How ridiculous can you possibly get?!"

"You, know," I said. "Maria and I kissed while she was human."

"Stupid! That's stupid Shadow! And disgusting!"

"Do I care if we were the same species?! No! Did she care?! NO! Just because the rest of the world finds it strange, doesn't mean it's wrong!"

"Shut up!" Silver grumbled, trying hard to focus on the level. "I'm about to beat this, but I need to concentrate."

"It's stupid!" Sonic yelled, making Silver jump, which of course, made him lose.

"Sonic!"

The blue hedgehog just laughed.

"They're here!" Frost said, ready to bail.

"Yes!" Knuckles shouted. "See you later Shadow!"

Silver and Sonic stood up too.

The door opened, and Maria and the other girls came in.

"Sonic!" Amy squealed, giving her boyfriend a hug. "Just wait till ya see the dress I picked out for you!"

Sonic gulped. "WHAT?!"

"You know, a dress that she'll wear to impress you," Maria said quickly, giving my cheek a peck.

Sonic relaxed. "Oh! Right!"

Amy nodded. "Anyway," she said. "The girls and I are gonna stay here to help Maria get ready! Tonight is her first date after all. And she must look perfect. And so does Shadow," she said, turning to me.

Rouge laughed. "Looks like you'll be wearing that tux again, Shadow! Good thing I made you buy it!"

I just rolled my eyes.

Sonic nodded. "Ok Ames, I'll see you later then!" He gave her a quick kiss and ran out the door.

Knuckles, Silver, and Frost left almost as fast.

"Ok!" Rouge said excitedly. "We've gotta get Maria ready! Blaze, do ya think you can handle Shadow?"

She nodded. "I've done it before."

Amy nodded. "Great! Let's go!" She said, dragging Rouge, Maria, and an army load of bags upstairs.

Blaze smiled. "That Amy," she murmured, shaking her head slightly. "Anyway, let's get you ready."

…

"I think it's a little tight," I said, grabbing at my collar.

Blaze shook her head. "You men are all the same," she said, fixing it. "You can't even dress yourselves properly!"

"Sorry!" I complained. "Do you think I wear this stuff all the time?"

Blaze just chuckled. "Ok, I think you're done," she said, straightening my red tie. "Now do not mess yourself up, alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I got it."

"Shadow!" Amy sang, skipping down the stairs. "She's all ready! And boy, she looks great!"

"Well, where is she?!" I demanded.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Jeez! Talk about impatient!" She complained. "But I just that's natural for a first timer! I can't believe that technically, you're over sixty, and this is your first date!"

"Subtract fifty. I was locked in suspended animation," I corrected. "Now where is she?"

Amy giggled. "Fine, Mr. Bossy!" She joked. "She's right here."

Just then, Rouge came down the stairs, leading the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

**Lusay: **Done with the chapter! I just love Sonic's little speech, and even the fake tears and everything! He drives me crazy, but in a good way! Anyway, review! Peace out!


	18. Chapter 18: Date gone Wrong

**Lusay: **I'm back! Yay! Time to do this! And...I think this is gonna be one of those more serious chapters. I wasn't planning on making it so humorous in the beginning, it kinda slipped out. But there are some parts in the story line (like now) where things kinda slow down. Sorry! But I'm sure you all can handle it, right? Fine! I'll give you some humor too. Just not as much as some of the other chapters.

**Shadow: **Will you stop talking and start writing! Jeez!

**Lusay: **(makes a face) Whatever you say, Shadow. Just wait and see what happens in the future! (evil laughter)

**Shadow: **(smirks) But I do know what happens! Maria and I get married and live together forever!

**Lusay: **...Um...you...are...totally right! (no, he's not. I'm just saying that! XD)

**Shadow: **I KNEW IT!

**Lusay: **Uh huh...you were right Shadow. I thought I had you stumped this time. (sighs) Oh well! Let's do this thing!

_Chapter eighteen: Date gone Wrong_

Maria's P.O.V.

"Um...Shadow? Are you ok?" I asked nervously.

He just kept staring at me with his mouth dangling open.

Rouge laughed. "I would normally suggest giving him a tissue, but I think his blood flow stopped all together."

I blushed and looked down. I was dressed in a light blue sparkly dress, a little above knee-length. Amy had said it was cute and short, but not too short. I also wore silver heels, my necklace, of course, and Amy had even curled my long quills so that they bounced on my shoulders as I walked. And of course, Rouge had done my makeup. Thanks to Amy's discipline, it wasn't too much. A little blush, light blue and silver eye shadow, and a nice shade of pink lip gloss. I wanted to know what Shadow thought, but it was kinda hard to ask him when he was being completely unresponsive.

"Shadow?" Blaze asked, waving her hand in fount of his face. That didn't work either. Shadow didn't even blink.

"I think he's in shock," Rouge said, shaking her head.

Amy giggled. "See? What did we tell you? He's gone completely head over heels."

"Is this supposed to happen?" I asked. "Because it looks like he's shut down."

Rouge rolled her eyes playfully. "It happens. Hey! Shadow! Time to wake up!" She said, slapping his cheek lightly.

"What?!" Shadow yelped, jumping back.

We laughed at his expression.

"About time!" Amy laughed. "We were starting to think that you were gonna die of a heart attack or something."

"Ha ha." Shadow said sarcastically. He cleared his throat. "You look amazing, Maria."

I blushed. "Thanks Shady. You don't look too bad yourself."

"Ok!" Rouge said suddenly. "I think it's time we girls take off! Enjoy your date! And please, no making out until it's at least half over. I don't want you messing up all the hard work I did on her."

"Whatever," Shadow mumbled.

"Thank you girls for everything!" I said, giving them all a huge hug.

"No problem," Blaze said.

Amy nodded. "You are a part of the team now!"

"Go have some fun hon!" Rouge said with a wink.

We all walked outside to see them off. "Bye!" I said, waving. After they pulled away, I turned to Shadow, "so, where are we going?"

Shadow blinked. "Going? Oh right!" He cleared his throat again. "Come on."

I chuckled and followed him to his car. "Boy, you're really jumpy. Am I making you nervous or something, Shady?"

He blushed. "N-no. Not at all," he said, opening the car door for me. "Why would you think that?"

I laughed as he shut my door and jogged to the other side to get in. "Because it's written all over your face."

Shadow blushed deeper and shoved the key in the ignition. "Yeah...well...whatever."

I could tell that he didn't want to talk, which was fine. He was like that on the Ark too. Quiet and shy. So once again, I talked about pretty much everything, trying to get him to loosen up. But I noticed that he was really spaced out.

When we pulled up to the restaurant, I gasped in awe. The place was huge! I kinda cowered back in the seat of the car. "Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked.

Shadow nodded. "Yeah. I've been here a few times with Rouge and Omega for our team's anniversary. They have some great stuff. Better than I could make, that's for sure."

I looked from the building to my lap. "I don't know," I said softly. "I don't think I'm fancy enough for a place like that."

He stared at me for a couple of seconds. "Of course you are," he said. "You look stunning, and I know you look way better than all those girls in there."

I made a face. "You're my boyfriend," I said, rolling my eyes. "You have to say that."

Shadow chuckled. "Maybe," he said, reaching over to kiss my check. "But I know it's true."

I smiled. "Thanks Shady. And by the way, why does Omega go to a restaurant anyway?"

"Very funny," Shadow said. "He doesn't eat, but he talks with us about the good time our team had." He opened his door and stepped out. He walked over to my side and opened the door for me. "Ready?"

I took in a deep breath and took his hand. "Guess so."

"Who's nervous now?" Shadow asked with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "And who's the desperately needy 'Ultimate Lifeform?'"

He chuckled. "Ok! You got me there," he said, shutting my door.

I smirked. "Thought so."

Shadow placed his hand on my hip and led me inside the large restaurant. I blinked a few times to get used to the fancy, dark place.

"I think I understand why this is Team Dark's hangout," I whispered.

The cat girl behind the desk looked at us. "Party of two?" She asked, holding up two manicured fingers.

Shadow nodded. "Yeah. We're under reservation. The name is Shadow."

The girl typed a few things on her computer and nodded. "Ok. Right this way please."

She grabbed two menus and led us to our table. "Here you go," she said, placing the menus down. "Your waiter should be here in a minuet."

"Thank you," I said politely.

She just nodded and left.

"So...this is a restaurant huh?" I asked, sitting down in the chair Shadow pulled out for me.

He nodded. "This is your first time, right?"

I nodded. "Besides that coffee place I went to with you, Sonic, and Amy. But nothing like this."

Shadow gave me a small smile. "Well, they have some really good food here. Even I am impressed."

"And that's saying a lot, isn't it?" I asked.

We chuckled quietly until the waiter guy, a silver and black hedgehog about eighteen years old, walked up to us.

"Hi," he said. "My name is Nathaniel, and I'll be your waiter this evening."

"Hi," I said. "Nice to meet you. I'm Maria, and this is Shadow."

Both guys looked at me like I was nuts.

_Um...did I do something wrong? He introduced himself. And if we know his name, it's only fair that he knows ours. I mean, he's still a person. We shouldn't be ignoring him pretty much._

Nathaniel cleared his throat. "Well, it's nice meeting you; Maria and Shadow. Do you know what you'd like to drink?" He asked.

"Could I have some water, please?" I asked, now shy because of the look he and shadow had given me.

Nathaniel nodded. "Ok. Do you want lemon with that?"

I shook my head. "No thank you."

"Ok. Sounds good. What about you, Shadow?"

"I'll have the same thing," Shadow said, eyeing the guy uneasily.

He nodded and snapped his notepad closed. "Alright. I'll get those to you as quick as I can," he said, turning around to leave.

"Did I do something wrong?" I whispered once he was out of earshot.

"Nothing terrible," Shadow shrugged. "But here's a tip. Next time, don't tell him our names."

"Why not?" I asked. "he told us his."

"Yeah, well that's for if we need to call him over here," he explained. "But what you did wasn't that bad. So don't worry about it."

I nodded, looking down.

"Alright, here's your water," Nathaniel said, placing two icy glasses beside us. "and do you know what you want to order?"

"Could we have a few more minuets?" Shadow asked.

He nodded and left to tend to other tables.

After we ordered, the two of us waited for our food to come. It was then when I remembered something I wanted to ask.

"Shadow?"

He looked at me, his deep red eyes nearly melting my heart. "Yeah?"

"Would you mind telling me what happened after I sent you to earth?" I asked. "Sonic told me something briefly about the military mistaking him for you and also about some Black Arm thing. Could you tell me? Please?"

Shadow hesitated. "Well...I..."

"Please!" I half begged.

He sighed. "Fine. But don't get too mad at me, Ok?"

I nodded, and he began telling me about how as soon as he got to earth, he was captured by G.U.N. And locked in suspended animation for fifty years. He told me about how Eggman released him, and the plan the Grandfather had programmed inside his mind. How he met Sonic and the others and how Amy had accidentally reminded him about his true promise to me.

The conversation was interrupted frequently by Nathaniel, who brought us our food, and was almost constantly asking if we needed anything. I don't think Shadow likes his a lot, judging by the suspicious looks he keeps giving our waiter. I don't think he's so bad though.

Finally, Shadow finished his story, saying how he had attempted to put the past behind him, hold no grudges, and work for G.U.N.

"Wow," I breathed. "You did all that, just to keep our promise? And to discover your past?"

He nodded. "And I'd do it all over again. Because this moment is worth it."

I smiled.

"Do you guys need anything?" Nathaniel asked us for the tenth time.

Shadow glared at him.

"Actually," I said. "Do you know where the bathrooms are?"

He nodded, looking happy that he could help. "Sure! Right this way," he said.

"Couldn't you just point her in the direction she needs to go?" Shadow asked suspiciously as I stood up.

"The place is packed, and I can tell your little friend here is not familiar with places like this," Nathaniel said. He turned and flashed me a smile. "Right this way."

He led me crossed the room toward a hallway.

"Um...where are we going?" I asked, noticing that we had passed the restrooms. "Isn't the bathroom over there?"

"I know where I'm going," he said, suddenly not sounding so happy and helpful.

I stopped. "Look. I don't know what's going on, but I'm going now. Goodbye."

"You're not going anywhere," he growled. He grabbed me and hit me with something. Then everything went white.

**Lusay: **And now, what will happen to Maria? I'd love to tell you, but you see Shadow is trying to hurt me right now, so gotta go bye! Peace out!


	19. Chapter 19: What's Going On?

**Lusay: **Oh my goodness! It feels like it's been ages since I've updated! Yeah, I know, it's only been six days. It will be unfortunately worse once school starts. That really stinks. But anyway, let's start the chapter!

_Chapter nineteen: What's Going On?_

Shadow's P.O.V.

_Twenty minuets already? Where is she? _I thought, looking around. Maria had supposedly been in the bathroom far longer than she should've been. Ok, I'll admit, I'm no expert, but twenty minuets in the bathroom seems a little over excessive.

But that's not my greatest concern right now. I'm more worried by the fact that this Nathaniel guy hasn't shown up since he "escorted" Maria to the bathroom. I had received bad vibes from that guy ever since I saw him, but now I'm having reasons to feel uneasy. If he did anything to her, he's gonna wish he had never been born.

I tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for the first sign of him or my girlfriend. The more I waited, the angrier and more anxious I got.

Finally, after about thirty minuets of this, Nathaniel came back out and continued his rounds. My eyes followed his every move, and he must've sensed that, because he came over after a few minuets. "Can I help you?" The words were polite enough, but his narrowed eyes and twitching mouth made it clear that he wanted to help me in a different way. Like out the door.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "I wanna know what you did with my girlfriend!" I shouted loud enough to be heard over the many conversations in the room.

Nathaniel didn't flinch. "I'm sorry sir," he said with a slight sneer. "But I have no idea what you're talking about."

I jumped to my feet, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed his head down on the table. "Don't play dumb with me!" I growled, causing several people around us to get to their feet in fear. "I know you did something to her you idiot!"

Nathaniel struggled to get himself free from my grasp. Finally, he kicked me in the gut, causing me to go flying into one of the tables. That was enough for most people. They quickly ran to the door as I stood up and shouted, "Chaos...Spear!"

Nathaniel grunted as the spears of Chaos Energy hit him. He rose to his feet and smirked. Several other waiters and waitresses now joined the black and silver hedgehog. The surrounded me and grabbed my arms. Nathaniel removed a gun from his ripped suit coat and pointed it at my chest.

"Now," he said with determination. "Let's get this over with, so we can get back to the girl. We still have business to attend to with her."

I could feel the rage burning behind my eyes. I allowed it to spread crossed the rest of my body.

"What on earth?!" one guy shouted as my body turned red. "Nathaniel?! What are you waiting for?!"

"There's no point!" the black cat from the fount desk argued. "He's completely bulletproof while he's like that."

"BEHOLD THE ULTIMATE POWER!" I shouted, gathering my energy.

Nathaniel cursed under his breath and pulled the trigger, but like the cat had said, I was bullet proof.

"You haven't won yet!" He growled, he grabbed something else from his jacket and tossed it at my feet. The group then disappeared into the cloud of smoke that erupted from the object.

I shook my head, changing back into my normal color. What ever was going on with this place, I still had to find Maria.

…

Maria's P.O.V.

I slowly opened my eyes. Ugh. My head was throbbing. I tried to lift my hand to rub it, but found that they were tied together. _What happened? _I thought, trying to sort everything out. _I remember being at the restaurant with Shadow...and Nathaniel was showing me where the bathroom was. Oh yeah! That creep must've knocked me out and shoved me in here. Wherever that is. Am I still in the restaurant?_

I tried to shout for help, but I was gagged. _Hmph. I can't wait till Shadow finds out what happened. Nathaniel, or __whatever his name is, wont know what hit his big ugly face._

I tugged on the ropes that held me. _If I could just...here we go! _I thought happily as I gave a gigantic pull, breaking them. That's one of the things I love about having the Ultimate Lifeform's blood.

I untied the ropes and cloth around my mouth and quickly started working on my legs. In a few minuets, I was free, besides still being locked in that closet. But that was easy. All I had to do was...

"What?!" I shouted, feeling my pockets. "Where's my Chaos Emerald?!" Whatever. I didn't need it. If I could snap ropes, then I should be able to break down some door.

I took a few steps back and charged, but just as I neared, it opened suddenly, causing me to fall right into Nathaniel.

"How did you?!" He sputtered.

I punched him in the face and ran as fast as I could through the smoke-filled building. _What's going on? This is way too weird!_

Just then, I crashed into someone else. I couldn't see who because of the heavy smoke, but he grabbed me.

"Let go of me!" I screamed, throwing a series of punches and kicks in his direction.

"Hey! Cut it out Maria!" Shadow ordered.

"Huh? Shadow?!" I gasped.

"Come on, let's get out of here," he said, pulling me closer. "Chaos...Control!"

...

"So much for a perfect date," I said sadly.

Shadow shook his head, seeming deep in thought.

"Hey, you ok?" I asked, walking over to him. "Don't be upset about the date. It doesn't matter."

He sighed. "It's not that, it's just that..."

"What?" I asked, grabbing him by the shoulders. "What's going on?"

"I think this might be more serious than I first thought," Shadow said solemnly. "Like I've said, Team dark has been to that place multiple times. So has the rest of the Sonic Heroes and even other G.U.N. Members. And that wasn't the first time I've seen some of those workers."

I blinked. "So do you think that-"

"That they are stealing government secrets and plans from our team?" Shadow asked. "Yes I do. And for some reason, they want me- and maybe you- dead."

I gasped. "But why?"

"I'm not sure yet," he said, looking me in the eye. "But it's not good."

I could see the worried look on his face. That got me worried as well. "Shadow?" I whispered. "Do you think that they will...do it? Kill us I mean."

Shadow clenched his fists. "Not if I can help it," he said. "They won't so much as look at you again without hearing it from me. And that's a promise."

I gave him a tight hug. "I hope you're right." We stood like that for a while, before Shadow pulled away with a sigh.

"Alright, you should get some sleep," he said. "It's late."

I nodded. "Goodnight Shady," I said softly, giving him a quick kiss.

"Night, Ria."

I walked upstairs to my room and shut the door behind me. As much as Shadow tried to hide it, I still knew he was worried about what was going on. But I mean, everything should be Ok. Shadow's the Ultimate Lifeform, and I kinda am too. Everything should be fine...right?

I slipped out of my dress and put on my light blue night-shirt and while pants. Opening the balcony door, I stepped out into the night air. I stared into the dark sky and sighed. This was the first time since I've been with Shadow that I've felt really scared. _I wish I had some family to talk to about this, _I thought. _Grandfather would think of something. I know I have Shadow, but he seems as confused and worried as I do. It really stinks that my only living family is an evil scientist. _I wiped my moist eyes. "I just wish I knew what to do."

…

Frost's P.O.V.

"Mmmm," I moaned contentedly. "Nothing beats some Rocky Road on a terribly warm June night." I pushed my light blue scarf out-of-the-way and licked the cone again. "Man, this is so good!"

I continued walking down the street, thinking about my ice cream, when I noticed the large crowd outside some restaurant. And was that...police?

My curiosity was immediately a roused at the sight, and I quickened my pace to see what was going on.

"And that Shadow the hedgehog guy just attacked him!" Some guy was telling the police.

_Shadow? _I thought. _What does he have to do with this?_

I pulled out my cell phone and quickly texted him.

**[To: Shadow]**

**[Received from: Frost]**

_**Dude, wats going on? Huge crowd over in Central City and theyre all talking bout u.**_

**[To: Frost]**

**[Received from: Shadow]**

_**Long story. Can u do me something?**_

**[To: Shadow]**

**[Received from: Frost]**

_**Like wat? Im not going to the mall like a girl if thats wat ur asking.**_

**[To: Frost]**

**[Received from: Shadow]**

_**Can we just forget tht? Come over tomorrow and I'll fill u in.**_

**[To: Shadow]**

**[Received from: Frost]**

_**Okaydokay! C u then.**_

I shook my head. Shadow asking moi for help? That was extremely rare. I wonder if it's worth it.

**Lusay: **The end of the chapter! I wonder what Shads is having frost do? And don't worry, you'll learn more about these freaks later. I'm a mystery fan, OK? I just had to add some kind of twist to the story. Anywho! Peace out!


	20. Chapter 20: A Protector

**Lusay: Hi everyone! Tis I! And I am back with another chapter! Chapter twenty?! Can you believe that?! I can't! Anywho, thought I'd do something that I haven't been doing, but I think I should.**

_**SonictheChristianHedgie: **_**Thank you so much for everything! Your reviews always make me feel like...um...really good! Yeah, I couldn't find a good simile there. Anyway, thanks so much for supporting me!**

_**jazzybizzle: **_**Thanks for being really enthusiastic with your reviews! They are greatly appreciated.**

_**TMNT15: **_**Your reviews always bring a smile to my face. Just so you know, I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. I hope that's an encouragement.**

_**Xx-ILuvMusic-xX: **_**I just love it when you review! I hope you start posting your own stories some day. I was totally freaked out about the whole idea at first too, but I'm glad I went through with it!**

_**TheDivines: **_**You were my first reviewer! So a huge thanks for the support and the reviews too!**

_**Lovesbugsalot: **_**New reviewer! Awesome! Thanks for reading and reviewing of course. And yep! There is no way I'm gonna stop writing until the whole story is done! **

_**typhon chaos: **_**Another new reviewer! Thanks for reviewing! And I totally agree with loving flashbacks and the "softer Shadow." I find both utterly adorable, and that's why they're here!**

**Anywho! Here's chapter twenty! Hope you all enjoy it!**

_Chapter twenty: A Protector_

Normal P.O.V.

"I can't believe the boss got mad at me!" the silver and black hedgehog huffed, fiddling with his gun. "This has to be some sort of weird supernatural paradox thing!"

Arianna, the black cat, rolled her eyes. "That is your fault, idiot. I told you to read the file I gave you, but you didn't listen to me. Dark Shadow is bullet proof. And to be honest with you, he's immortal. You can't kill him with this," she said, talking Nathaniel's gun out of his hand and tossing it crossed the room.

"Then how the heck are we supposed to kill him?!" Nathaniel shouted, standing up and pacing the floor.

Arianna laughed. "I love it when you get like this. It's simple," she said, smirking. "It was all in the file that you should've read."

Her companion turned and stared at her. "Do you mean Project: Shadow? I thought that was in G.U.N.'s possesion."

"Key word: was."

Nathaniel planted his hands on his hips and glared at the ebony cat. "What are you saying Arainna? You have the file?"

She smiled. "Correct handsome."

"I'm confused."

The black cat sighed and flipped her long hair out of her eyes. "Sometimes, I wonder why the boss hired you, you're so stupid. Dr. Eggman is the grandson of Gerald Robotnik. You know, the dude who created Shadow? Well, he happened to get his hands on it. He was easy to steal from. Get it?"

Nathaniel shrugged. "So...tell me again how we kill an immortal dude."

"Right. Well, Dr. Eggman is some genius who creates lethal weapons, am I right? And he knows Shadow well. We get him to make us a weapon and then we do away with him, Shadow, and his little girlfriend too! And then it will be a simple take-out-G.U.N. And Cobra will rule! See?"

Nathaniel nodded slowly and evilly. "Yes I do. And that old egg won't be hard to convince. I'm thinking all we have to do is say that he can rule once we're done and he's in right?"

Arianna smirked. "Right. Soon enough Nat. We'll soon be free from this annoying government trash. Free to do anything we want." Her green eyes sparkled.

"Can't wait. So, how about tomorrow we visit that bald eggface? I can't wait to kill that annoying 'Ultimate Lifeform.' Hehe. We'll see how ultimate he is when we have him sprawled on the floor."

Arianna nodded. "Lots of blood dripping from his body too."

"I'm starting to like the way you think."

…

Shadow's P.O.V.

"Why can't I find anything?!" I grumbled, searching around on my laptop. "G.U.N. Should have something on every person here. Why can't I find this guy?" I took a deep breath and sighed, my eyelids growing heavy. _What time is it? _I wondered, checking the clock on the wall. It was well past midnight. _Where are the benefits of working for G.U.N. When I need them? Pfft. They are so stupid. If it wasn't for Rouge and I, they would be absolutely useless._

I rolled my eyes. _Hmmm. I'm pretty much the only threat to anyone against G.U.N. What if...that Nathaniel punk and his gang have a past with them? Could that be why they are trying to kill me? It's possible._

The thoughts spun around in my head with incredible speeds, causing me to close my eyes in submission to sleep. I only needed a few minuets and then I could...

A gut-wrenching scream suddenly filled the house, causing me to jump to my feet in surprise and in utter terror. The sound had come from Maria's room. I rushed to her as quickly as I could, slowing only enough to avoid tripping over the stairs. I burst the door open and looked around. "Maria?!"

Much to my confusion, she was still in bed, sleeping. She tossed harshly before letting out another shriek. I relaxed slightly. It appeared that she was having a nightmare. I sat down next to her and gently shook her awake. "Maria? Wake up."

Her bright blue eyes fluttered open, before she gasped and lurched upwards. She panted breathlessly and trembled with fear.

"Maria? Are you Ok?" I asked softly, placing a hand on her soldier.

She turned to me and lunged into my chest. "Oh, Shadow!" She sobbed. "It was terrible! T-t-they were after us...and..." by now, she was crying too hard to continue.

I stroked the back of her head comfortingly. "Don't worry Ria," I told her. "I won't let them hurt you. They won't even look at you again, I promise."

She cried hard, burying her face in my chest fur. I continued rubbing her head, until at last, her sobs quieted and faded into sniffles. "I don't know why I can't stop worrying about it," she said quietly. "I know that you wouldn't let them hurt me, but I...I can't help but think something terrible is about to happen." She let out a shaky sigh, her crying had worn her out. "I'm sorry Shadow," she apologized. "I'm such a baby, but...do you think you could stay here for the night? I just...you make me feel safe, and I know those creeps wouldn't dare try to come back with you around."

I wasn't quite sure what Maria was talking about. "Maria," I said,, looking her in the eye. "There's nothing to be afraid of. As long as I'm living, nothing in all the universe will hurt you. I was weak in allowing that to happen once, but it defiantly wont again. And...sure. I'll stay here with you." I gave her a smile.

Her whole face light up when I said that. "Thank you so much Shadow!" She said, giving me a hug. "I don't know why I'm being so wimpy all of a sudden."

I shrugged and kicked off my shoes, lying down beside her. Truth was, I kinda liked it when she was more dependent. It made me feel like I was more than her over protective, borer lined obsessive boyfriend. I actually felt like...her protector.

Maria snuggled down next to me, resting her head on my chest. "Boy, you're soft," she commented, earning a chuckle from me.

"Get some sleep," I said, lacing my fingers through her quills. She needed no further urging. In a few minuets, she was asleep, and the only sound that came from her was a soft purr.

**Lusay: the end of the chapter! Sorry if you thought it was short, but I'm feeling kinda lazy today. Anywho, you'll review right? For me? (giving puppy dog face) Reviews are like, the main reason I keep going. It really helps me know how you think the story's going and all. So...please review! They mean soooooo much to me!**

**Shadow: Why are you begging?**

**Lusay: Shut up! You are supposed to be in bed! Go! Now!**

**Shadow: Fine. Even when she's sleeping, Maria's way better company than you could ever be.**

**Lusay: You really like her, don't you?**

**Shadow: (blushes) I'm going to bed. Good night.**

**Lusay: He's so cute! Anywho! Peace out peoples!**


	21. Chapter 21: Payback Time

**Lusay: Hi all! I'm back! Thanks for viewing and reviewing! I love you guys!**

_Chapter twenty-one: Payback Time_

Maria's P.O.V.

My eyes opened slowly. I had slept really well ever since Shadow came in last night. I sat up and looked at him. He was still asleep, looking really cute and silly with his mouth slightly open, and a faint snore coming from him. I giggled quietly and moved closer to him, scratching him behind his right ear. It immediately twitched, as his head leaned toward it, subconsciously exchanging his snore for an adorable purr.

About ten minuets later, he woke up, stretching and curling his tounge in a cat-like manner. I giggled.

"What's so funny?" He asked sleepily, blinking in confusion.

"Your face," I said with a smile.

"Like I haven't heard that one before," Shadow said, rolling his eyes in a playful manner. "You sleep good?"

I nodded. "A lot better since you came in last night."

He nodded. "Good."

"Mmmhmm," I said a matter of factly. "And I think you should get a reward for it," I continued, twirling one of my messy quills around my index finger.

Shadow's eyes sparkled. "Oh really?" He asked.

"Yep," I nodded, leaning into kiss him. Just then, my cell phone rang.

"Ugh. Stupid phone always chooses the worst time to ring!" He complained.

I laughed at his obvious disappointment and picked up the phone on my night stand. "Hello?" I asked, answering it.

"Hi Maria! This is Orca! Um...is this a bad time?"

Shadow nodded.

"No, not at all," I smiled, making a face at him. "In fact, this was the perfect time to call!"

He pretended to look put out, crossing his arms and huffing, but I could tell he was joking.

"That's a relief," Orca laughed. "I didn't wanna wake you up or anything. Could you help me with something please?"

"Sure. What do you need?" I asked.

"Well, you see. There's this awesome beach house at Seaside Hill. I was thinking maybe hosting a party there or something. The thing is, I don't have anyone to help me set up. I'd ask Frost, but all he's gonna do is complain about it being too hot. Would you mind helping me?"

"A beach party?" I asked. "That sounds like fun! Of course I'd help you!"

Shadow looked at me like I was nuts, but I ignored him.

"That's great!" Orca said happily. "Do you think you could come down soon? I'm here now."

"Yeah," I said enthusiastically. "I'm sure _Shadow _would love to take me there." A look from him told me otherwise, but once again, he was ignored.

"Awesome! I'll see you soon!"

"Ok! Later!" I hung up and gave Shadow a sweet smile. "Now where were we?" I asked, knowing his wasn't in a very good mood anymore.

"I'm gonna take a shower," he grumbled, getting out of bed.

"Awww! Poor thing! Can't handle another couple of hours without me?" I asked in a teasing voice.

Shadow gave me a dirty look and left.

…

"Shadow! What are you doing?!" I screamed, as he started his loud motorcycle. I _had _to scream because of the noise.

He smirked. "Two words: Payback Time," he said triumphantly.

"For what?!" I yelled, staring at it in horror. _There is no way I'm gonna ride that...thing!_

"Let's see," Shadow said. "Maybe for agreeing to help with a beach party. Oh wait! For making me ride that death trap!"

"I'm sorry!" I immediately apologized. "I didn't know you were so afraid of roller coasters! I mean, you take down Eggman's robots all the time, so I didn't think that you would-"

"Correction. I'm _not _afraid of some pathetic roller coaster," he said, rolling his eyes. "I just don't like them. And as for this baby, she's 100% safer. It's closer to the ground, I bought you a helmet, and I am an expert driver." He smirked proudly. "And also, we left the car in Central City, so..."

"Can't you Chaos Control us?" I questioned.

"Ah, you said that I would take you there, so we'll do things _my _way."

"I hate you sometimes," I grumbled.

"I love you too," Shadow said sarcastically, tossing me a sky blue helmet.

"No. I said I _hate _you!" I said louder.

"Awww," Shadow sighed dramatically. "You made me sad. I think I'm gonna go cry now!"  
"Stop acting like Sonic!" I groaned, slipping the helmet over my quills.

Now he was offended. "Oh yeah?" He asked. "Get on and I'll show you how to act like the Faker."

My eyes widened. "Shadow," I said slowly. "You aren't really gonna..."

"Get on," he pressed darkly.

I gulped and walked over to him. "Where do I..."

"Right behind me. Now do it quickly."

I drapped one leg over the seat and sat down.

"Now hold on."

"To what?"

"To me. Do you see anything else to hold on to?"

"N-n-no," I stuttered, wrapping my arms around his waist and clinging on for dear life.

"Ready?" He asked.

"No."

"Good."

Then, with a roar, he pulled into the road. I screamed, and closed my eyes, as Shadow practically gunned it the entire way there. _Note to self: Never again tell Shadow that he's acting like Sonic, unless you want to be on the verge of death. I'd be surprised if he doesn't crash this thing!_

We finally got to Seaside Hill, luckily still in one piece. I slid off as soon as Shadow parked.

"Ow!" I moaned, falling to my knees. "What did that thing do to me?!"

Shadow chuckled and got off, knelt in fount of me, and tipped my chin toward him. "Now, there will be no more of this 'I'm acting like Sonic' talk. Will there?"

I shook my head.

"Good," Shadow gave me a small kiss.

I slapped his cheek in return. "And when you come to pick me up, you _better _bring your car." I warned.

"You know you liked it," he said lightly.

"In your dreams."

**Lusay: Tada! End of the chapter! I know, I'm prolonging the action. Hehe! Peace out peoples!**


End file.
